


Homecoming

by rebel_wren



Series: Reunited [1]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Anniversary, Babysitting, Background Jaizra, Background Ketbine, Background Shara/Kes, Blind Kanan Jarrus, Children, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ezra Bridger Returns!, F/M, Family, Family Dinners, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Flying, Implied/Referenced Sex, In-Laws, Kanan Jarrus is Alive, Meditation, Mother-Son Relationship, Parenthood, Picnics, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Rebels Epilogue, Reunions, The Whole Ghost Crew Is Back Together Again, Young Poe Dameron, background Kalluzeb, fancy restaurant dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2020-12-16 12:40:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 34,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21036386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: Hera has established herself a more peaceful, and more normal, life with her son on Yavin IV when Sabine brings Ezra home, and Kanan is with him too. The whole Ghost Crew is happy to reunite again for the first time in years (especially Kanan and Hera in particular).This is a pure DOMESTIC FLUFF fic. That is it. This is my self-indulgent, fluffy, everyone-is-happy garbage.





	1. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera comes home to a fuller house than what she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tags are going to expand as I add chapters. A LOT.

Hera set her bag down as soon as she came through the door, sighing in relief at finally being home. She had a real house now, a decent-sized one in the colony on Yavin IV, in a neighborhood with other veterans making lives for themselves too. It was perfect.

The _ Ghost _ wasn’t far, though. It had a spot in the hangar bay that was just a short walk from her home, though between Hera’s trips for work (she worked for the New Republic, providing relief for people across the galaxy- it was very rewarding, and reminded her of helping Tarkintown) and her joyrides with Jacen, it certainly wasn’t gathering any dust. Sometimes she would just go there with Jacen and spend the day in the ship, bringing toys, games, snacks and holovids.

But today, Hera was happy to be back in her house, after a particularly long relief mission.

“Zeb?”

Zeb came out of the kitchen, smiling wider than Hera had seen in a long time. He was always happy when he got to babysit Jacen, even though he had to travel pretty far from Lirasan, but never _ this _happy.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” she commented. “Jacen behaved for you?”

Zeb just hugged her tight, lifting her off of her feet, much to Hera’s surprise.

“You know you don’t have to ask,” he said with a joyous laugh. Hera frowned when he sat her down again, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Are you… alright?”

He nodded earnestly, and grabbed Hera’s arm, pulling her down the hall, past the refresher, back towards her living room.

“Zeb, what are you-” she cut herself off with a gasp.

Sabine was beaming at her, sitting on the couch.

“Welcome home,” Sabine said.

Hera just walked forward, and Sabine stood up to meet her, which let Hera pull her into a tight hug.

“I missed you so much,” Hera said. “Jacen did too.”

“I was hardly gone a year,” Sabine said, holding her tight.

“That’s too long. Where’s Ahsoka?”

“Hauling Thrawn to a New Republic prison.”

Hera froze, her mouth dropping open. She broke the hug, pulling away from Sabine to grip her shoulders. “Thrawn?”

Sabine smiled at her and nodded.

There was a flushing sound from the refresher, and Hera turned around. Her head was spinning- this was too much already.

The faucet turned on- thankfully- for a few moments, then it turned off. It felt like an eternity while Hera waited for the door to open. And when it did, she wasn’t disappointed.

Ezra stepped out of the refresher. His hair was a little longer than when she’d last seen him, but still not as long as when they’d first met. His face had just a little stubble on it- Kanan used to tease him about not being able to grow a beard.

“Ezra!” Hera cried. She couldn’t help it, and she didn’t care. He flashed her a grin and then quickly collided with her for a hug. They were both laughing, but Hera could feel a small sting in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around him, bringing him closer and closer to her, but it still didn’t feel close enough.

“I missed you so much,” she said, her voice being muffled by his shoulder. Was he always this tall? “I was so worried about you.”

“I know,” Ezra said, his voice wavering. “I missed you too.”

Hera didn’t want to let go, but she figured Ezra had to breathe, so she pulled away, smiling at him. She gently laid a hand across his cheek, feeling the hair there.

“Look at you,” she said proudly. So much had changed since she last saw him.

Ezra beamed at her, his blue eyes sparkling.

“I met Jacen,” Ezra said. “He’s amazing.”

Hera’s eyes were teary. “Isn’t he? I- where is he? I should tell him I’m home.”

Zeb and Sabine shared a look, both still smiling. She could hardly remember the last time the crew was together, all smiling this much.

They weren’t totally together, her heart reminded her. A very important piece was missing.

“He’s in his room upstairs,” Zeb said. 

Hera nodded, squeezing Ezra’s arm. “I’ll be right back. You’re all staying for dinner, right?”

“Of course we are,” Ezra answered.

Sabine, Zeb and Ezra were all smiling at her, which made sense- this was easily becoming one of the better days they’d all had in a long time- but something was… odd.

“What’s with the faces?”

“What faces?” Sabine asked. “We’re just happy.”

“You’re all staring at me.”

They all quickly looked away, as if that would make Hera forget about it.

“You just look really nice today,” Zeb said.

Hera rolled her eyes, turning towards the stairs. “Alright, then.”

She took her time up the stairs (which she and Rex had built a ramp with wheel-grips next to so Chopper could go up and down without help), reaching the top. The top floor of her home had a hallway with four doors- another refresher, her bedroom, Jacen’s bedroom, and a fourth room that Chopper had claimed as a charging room. It was much bigger than Chopper needed, but Hera didn’t feel a need to argue.

Jacen’s door was open, and she could hear him babbling to somebody about his toys. He was probably talking to Chopper- he loved explaining things to him, and Chopper seemed to like listening, or at least he didn’t mind it. 

But Chopper rolled past her, warbling cheerfully, and Hera frowned. Who was Jacen talking to?

She approached Jacen’s door, and gasped louder than she ever had in her life.

Jacen was sitting on the floor, playing with his toys and showing them to Kanan Jarrus, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor across from him.

He was just as she remembered. His hair was long again, pulled back in a familiar ponytail, with the beard that she loved back too. A scar stretched across his blind eyes. The shape of his nose, his lips, his jaw, his chin, his whole face- all of it was the same.

Hera didn’t understand. He was fake- that was the only reason she could think of that made sense.

Jacen turned around, smiling wide at Hera.

“Mommy!”

He stood up, and ran at Hera, who knelt down and hugged him quickly, but she found herself staring over him at the man who was beginning to stand up across from them, awkwardly running a hand over the back of his neck.

“H- hey, sweetheart,” Hera said to Jacen, kissing his temple quickly.

“I met Daddy! I was showing him my ships!” Jacen proclaimed excitedly.

“I… see that,” Hera said slowly. “Why don’t you go downstairs with Zeb-”

“And Ezra! I met him too!”

“Yes, and Ezra, and Sabine is back. Did you show Ezra all your ships?”

Jacen frowned, as if considering. “No…”

“Why don’t you show him some too? I need to talk to… your Daddy.”

Jacen nodded, gathering some of his ships up in his arms and taking them out of the room, towards the stairs.

“Bye, Daddy!”

“Bye, kiddo,” Kanan answered. Hearing his voice was felt like a needle in her heart. “I’ll be right down, alright?”

Hera shut the door behind them once Jacen was started down the stairs, and Kanan stepped towards her.

“Hera-”

Hera could feel angry tears sting her eyes. “Stop. I don’t know if- if you’re a changeling, or a projector droid, or what, but this isn’t funny. Whatever you told the others, it’s not going to work on me. You need to leave, and stay away from my son.”

Kanan shook his head. “Hera, I promise-”

“No,” she said, the furious tears beginning to roll down her face. “My Kanan is dead. You’re not real.”

Kanan stepped forward again, but when Hera ordered him to stop again, he did. He then sighed, clasping his hands.

“I know it’s a lot, and it doesn’t really make sense, but… I swear, it’s me. I don’t- I don’t know how to prove it to you, but please… trust me.”

Hera stared at him, looking for a fault that would tell her that this wasn’t the Kanan she remembered, but she couldn’t. He even had the same shirt he always wore.

She swallowed hard. “Where did we meet?”

Kanan straightened up a little, almost seeming relieved. “Gorse. Okadiah told you to marry me.”

She was sure only Kanan would know that, but she wasn’t ready to give up on her interrogation yet. “What’s my favorite fruit?”

Kanan chuckled. “Meiloorun.”

“Where was our first date?”

“Rion’s moons.”

“What kind of caf do we drink?”

“Spiran, the best kind.”

“Where did we have our first-”

“I think it was your room-”

“Kiss!” Hera finished.

Kanan’s eyes widened a little bit in embarrassment. “Oh! The _ Phantom _.”

Hera smiled, and tears began flowing down her face quickly.

It was him. Kanan Jarrus was right in front of her.

“Did I pass?” Kanan asked, and Hera answered with a sob, practically falling towards him into a hug. Kanan wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his chest as she cried. He stroked her back soothingly, and Hera swore she felt tears falling onto her flight cap.

She couldn’t find words. She didn’t have any.

“Ezra- Ezra said something about a portal, or-” Kanan started, but Hera shook her head, which came off more as nuzzling herself against his chest.

“I don’t care,” Hera said. “You’re here.”

She broke the hug, just so she could cup his face in her hands, feeling his beard and taking him in for the first time in years. She’d never fully appreciated before how beautiful he was, how handsome his face looked in the light. She wouldn’t make the same mistake again.

Kanan reached his hands up to cover hers against his face, smiling at her and making her heart flutter.

“I love you,” he said. Hera’s lip quivered- she never thought she’d hear those words with that voice.

“I love you too. I missed you so much, Kanan,” she said. She’d been saying that a lot today. “You have no idea how much I missed you.”

He leaned down to press his forehead to hers. “I think I have some idea.”

He kissed her gently- but that wouldn’t do, Hera hadn’t been kissed in years. She let her hands move back into his hair, her fingers tangling in the soft locks. She pulled him in as the kiss became fiercer, more passionate-

They were in Jacen’s room, she realized.

Hera broke away from him, and they were both breathless. Kanan chuckled.

“Too much?”

“No,” Hera breathed. “We’re in my- our- son’s room.”

Kanan nodded quickly, understanding. “Your room, then?”

“Please.”

Hera pulled away from his hair, trailing one hand down his arm to interlock her fingers with his as she pulled him out the door of Jacen’s room, down the hall to her room.

“Jacen and Chopper gave me a tour,” Kanan said, and Hera laughed.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmhmm. Chopper has a whole room to himself?”

“He claimed it when we moved in,” Hera explained. “And I don’t have another use for it yet, so he can have it if he wants.”

Kanan nodded as Hera opened the door to her room, and pulled him inside. 

“So…” he started. “About Jacen.”

Hera gave him a nervous smile that he couldn’t see. “Surprised?”

He chuckled. “Surprised is… a word,” he said, but the amusement in his voice began to fade, and the volume dropped barely above a whisper. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to, I swear,” Hera replied, her voice just as quiet. “I just… I didn’t get a chance to before… everything.”

He nodded and sat down on her bed, feeling across the blanket, stopping tentatively before pushing forward more, as if he was getting a measurement of it.

“Double bed?”

The amusement in his voice had returned, though there was some worry in it too.

Hera snorted. “Don’t worry, I just got it because Sabine said it would make the room look nicer. It’s just mine.”

Kanan nodded, and when Hera sat down next to him, she felt his arms quickly wrap around her. Hera sighed, resting against his chest.

“I just can’t believe it,” she whispered.

“I know. It’s… a lot.”

She lifted her head up, and kissed him softly, and he kissed her back. She felt his hand gently caress down her lekku, sending a shiver down her spine. Hera reached her hands to rest at his sides, holding on to his abdomen. She could feel him smiling into the kiss, and she could smell him- she still had a lot of his old shirts, but they’d lost the scent that she missed years ago.

They were jolted apart by two gentle knocks on the doorframe. Hera let go of Kanan and turned around to see Zeb, arms folded and grinning.

“Hey, you two.” 

Hera smiled at him, feeling Kanan wrap his arms around her waist. “Hey, Zeb.”

“I’m making dinner. How’s yobshrimp sound?”

Just the thought made Hera’s mouth begin to water. “That sounds amazing. Do we have any?”

“Sabine and I are gonna head to the store, Ezra is watching Jacen. Those two get along so well.”

Hera smiled. “I’m glad. Thank you, Zeb.”

Kanan rested his chin on Hera’s shoulder, still holding her close. Hera wanted him to never let go again. “You need any help?” he asked, but Zeb shook his head.

“Nah, you stay here. You earned it.”

Hera laughed quietly, resting back against Kanan. As Zeb waved a quick goodbye before going back downstairs.

“I love you,” Hera said.

“I love you too.”

“I love you,” she repeated, her voice softer this time. She couldn’t say it enough.

“I love you too.”

He pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I should’ve told you sooner,” she whispered, looking ahead, while Kanan was behind her. “Years sooner. I’m sorry.”

“You weren’t ready,” Kanan said. “It’s okay. I didn’t say it either.”

“But you were waiting for me,” Hera said. She’d had years to think over all of her time with Kanan, and that was the conclusion she’d come to. “Weren’t you?”

Kanan stiffened, confirming her answer.

Hera turned around, loosening Kanan’s hold on her. She reached out to caress his cheek. “I won’t mess us up this time. I promise. This is my second chance.”

“I won’t either,” Kanan promised. “We’ll be better, and we were already pretty damn good.”

Hera smiled at him. Painful as it was, losing Kanan taught her about holding the people she loved close. She used to think that being in a war meant that she couldn’t spend the time she wanted with others, but she had realized too late that it was _ because _ of the war that she should.

But there was no more war. Sure, she was still on call for the New Republic should a dogfight break out nearby, but the Empire had died on Jakku not long ago.

She wondered how much Kanan and Ezra were aware of all the details of the war that they missed, but she didn’t want to bother Kanan with that now.

She could do it later.

She could say that now. Their lives were different- they had time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask me how Kanan is alive. He just is. I told you this was self-indulgent, fluffy, everyone-is-happy garbage in the summary, don't blame me.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading anyway, despite that warning! I hope you like it!


	2. Dinner & Bedtime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly reunited Ghost Crew has dinner together, and then everyone sleeps over at Hera's house.

Zeb finally sat down, after putting a bowl in front of everybody else. They had to pull up an extra chair, Hera hadn’t had this many guests over before at once, but no one minded squeezing around her table. Ezra was already gobbling down the food, with Hera watching from her seat next to him with a smile.

Ezra swallowed, taking a pause between bites. “Force, Zeb, I missed your cooking.”

Zeb grinned proudly, and lifted his own fork up. Everyone began to eat, except Hera. She hadn’t even touched her utensils. She looked around the table- Sabine and Zeb savoring the meal, Ezra wolfing it down, and Kanan, who had so eagerly volunteered to cut everything up into smaller pieces for Jacen, finished with that task and was taking some slow bites too.

Hera kept scanning over the family at her table, smiling and feeling her eyes get watery. Zeb looked at her, furrowing his brows quickly and swallowing.

“Hera? You alright?”

This caught everyone else’s attention too. Sabine and Ezra both looked at her, Kanan put his hand on her arm, and Jacen poked his head around his shoulder to look at her too.

Hera simply smiled, nodding.

“Of course I am,” she said with a teary laugh. “This… this is everything I’ve wanted for  _ years _ , and I thought I’d never get it.”

Kanan smiled at her, and squeezed her arm with his hand.

“Never assume you know what the galaxy has planned.”

“Believe me,” Hera said. “I’ve realized that.”

She lifted her fork up, picking up a piece of the yobshrimp and taking a bite. It was delicious- Zeb’s food always was- and everyone around the table continued their eating too. Ezra finished first, and took to making funny faces at Jacen from across the table. Jacen giggled, and pointed his fork at Ezra, throwing a piece of vegetable at him that landed smack on Ezra’s nose before falling back down to the table.

“Jacen!” Hera scolded quickly, but she could tell her message got undercut by Ezra, Zeb and Sabine’s laughter. Even Kanan let out some quiet chuckles, which he stifled with the back of his hand, though Hera couldn’t blame him- it’s not like he saw what happened.

Ezra picked the piece up and ate it with a grin on his face, and Hera shook her head.

“Jacen, it’s not nice to throw food,” she said. “What do we say to Ezra?”

“Sorry, Ezra,” Jacen said. He was still giggling, but on a day like this, Hera decided not to push it. 

Hera and Kanan were the only ones still eating when Zeb started to clean up everyone’s plates, though Kanan finished only a few moments later.

“I should probably head back before it gets too late,” Zeb said. “Sorry, everyone.”

Hera stood up, just a little of her yobshrimp left on the plate. “No, Zeb.”

He frowned. “No?”

“It’s already too late, just stay the night. You can leave tomorrow.”

Jacen perked up when she said that. “Please, Uncle Zeb!”

Zeb let out a quiet groan, and Hera couldn’t help but smile- they both knew he could never say no to Jacen. “Alright, I guess. I’ll sleep in Chopper’s room.”

Chopper let out an indignant warble, but Hera shook her head. “You’ll still have plenty of room to charge, Chop. I’ll get that inflatable sleep mat out.

“Do you have two of those?” Ezra asked. “Been a while since I got to room with Zeb. If I’m invited of course.”

Zeb grinned wide and threw an arm around Ezra, pulling him close while the pair both laughed. Hera smiled at them. “Of course you’re invited, Ezra. And… I don’t think I have another sleep mat, but I do have a bedroll back there.”

“In the back closet?” Zeb asked, and Hera nodded to answer him.

“I’ll get it,” Zeb said.

“Let me help!” Ezra insisted, following him back through Hera’s house.

Sabine laughed as they both pushed past her, smiling at Hera. “Can I stay too?”

“You don’t have to ask.”

Sabine beamed. “I’ll just take the couch, if you don’t mind.”

“Works for me. You know where the blankets and pillows are.”

Sabine walked towards the living room, and Kanan approached Hera gently, taking her hand.

“Where am I sleeping?”

“Where do you think?”

Kanan smiled at her, and leaned in to kiss her, which Hera returned happily.

“ _ Ewwww! _ ”

Hera broke apart from Kanan, both of them laughing as she turned around to Jacen. “Sorry, sweetheart.”

“I’m not sorry,” Kanan mumbled, and Hera snorted.

“How about I go tuck you in?” Hera asked him. “It’s a little past your bedtime.”

“Can Daddy?” Jacen asked. Hera smiled, and looked back at Kanan, who was also smiling. He nodded.

“Of course I can,” he said, and Hera swore his voice shook just a little bit. “Come here, kid.”

Jacen happily went over to Kanan, who scooped him up in his arms and carried him through the living room and up the stairs. Sabine made some faces at Jacen as they passed. Hera folded her arms as she watched her house. Chopper was chattering with Sabine as she set up pillows and blankets on the couch for herself, she could hear Zeb and Ezra arguing about the sleep mat and the bedroll, and Kanan was holding her son- their son- and taking him to bed.

It was, quite literally, a scene she thought she’d only have seen in a dream.

She smiled, and had a bounce in her step as she went through the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom, and she hummed happily as she got herself dressed and ready for bed. She sat on the bed, smoothing her sleep-plants against her thighs, waiting for Kanan. It took him a while to come back to her room (now their room, though part of her worried she was assuming too much), and Kanan flashed a grin at her.

“Sorry,” he said. “He wanted a bedtime story.”

Hera laughed, standing up to slowly saunter over to Kanan. “Of course he did. What story did you tell him?”

“Well, I was going to tell him about how we met, but he said he already knew that one. So I told him about the meiloorun-TIE Fighter incident.”

Hera laughed again, draping her arms over Kanan’s neck. “You’re such a good dad already. I always thought you would be.”

Kanan swallowed thickly. “I- I’m trying.”

“It takes some getting used to,” Hera said. “But I know you’ll get it. More than you already do.”

He nodded. “I just… I’m sorry I left you to raise him without me.”

“You didn’t leave me, love,” Hera reminded him. “You… you know, that happened. And I had plenty of support.”

He still didn’t look convinced, so Hera pulled herself closer to him, so they were pressed against each other.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I missed you so, so much, but I did alright. I’m just glad you’re here now.”

She kissed him, and his hands rested on her hips, drifting up underneath the too-big shirt she wore to bed. She pulled away from him, but only for a second as they pressed their foreheads together. Hera smiled, as Kanan’s hands drifted some more, before stopping. He pulled his hands away but then put them back just as quickly, though rather than underneath her shirt, they were over it, tugging at the fabric. Kanan chuckled.

“Is this my shirt?”

“Oh,” Hera said. She hadn’t realized- she’d gotten so into the habit of wearing his old clothes to bed that she forgot she was doing it. “I- yeah, well… I kept most of,” she paused. “All of,” she admitted. “Your things. A lot of them are in the  _ Ghost _ \- we’ll have to stop by and get them all sometime, I guess, but your shirts- if you want them back-”

He cut her off with a kiss, which Hera smiled into and returned. When he pulled away again, he fingered the hem of the shirt, and gave her a smile that sent tingles down her spine.

“Keep it,” he said.

Hera smiled and pulled him back to her bed, and it wasn’t long before said shirt was tossed onto the floor anyway.


	3. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the morning after the happy family reunion, Kanan makes breakfast and Rex stops by before Sabine and Zeb have to leave.

Hera stretched and let out a quiet groan as she woke up. She was tired and pleasantly sore. But that couldn’t have been real, right? It wasn’t possible. It was too good to be true.

When she rolled over and was greeted by no one else in her bed, her fears were confirmed.

It was just a dream.

She sat up, and squeaked as she pulled the blanket up over her chest, hiding herself from the empty room. Her clothes were strewn over the floor.

_ Must’ve been a hell of a dream. _

She slowly gathered her clothes up, slipping them on as she stumbled, still sleepy, through her room. She yawned as she got to the door, stepping on something soft- one of Kanan’s shirts.

She had so many of those, but something about this one caught her eye.

_ Get out of your head, Hera, _ she thought to herself.  _ It wasn’t real. You just have to clean up. _

Hera opened the door, and she could hear some snores down the hall from Chopper’s room. That sounded right- she’d come home from a mission, Zeb was babysitting Jacen and he stayed the night.

Funny how she could only remember that from her dream, though, and not the real version of the events. Maybe she just needed to wake up some more.

Hera went down the stairs, though not before peeking into Jacen’s room to see him sleeping soundly. As she was going down, she could hear someone in the kitchen, cooking something on the stove- but that couldn’t be right, Zeb was asleep. She reached the bottom of the stairs- her living room was a mess of pillows, but on the couch was a sleeping Sabine, her armor scattered on the table. 

_ If that wasn’t a dream… _

Hera moved quietly, but very quickly, through the living room into the kitchen, smiling wide when she saw Kanan at the stove, flipping a flatcake. Hera came up behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning forward to let her face rest against the soft skin on his back, between his shoulder blades. His hair, laying behind his shoulders but not pulled back into a ponytail yet, brushed against her. Force, she was glad he grew it out again.

She both heard and felt his chuckle rumble in his chest.

“Morning,” he said.

“Good morning,” Hera answered, pressing a kiss to his back.

“You know, you organized the kitchen here exactly how you did on the  _ Ghost _ . Made it easy for me to find everything.”

“That’s good,” she said, though admittedly she didn’t really process his words. “I love you.”

She never wanted to stop saying that.

“I love you too. But I’m trying to cook, would you mind-”

Hera laughed and stepped back from him. “Sorry. Should I wake the others up for breakfast?”

“Yeah, actually, I’m almost done.”

Hera smiled and kissed his cheek before going out towards the living room, where Sabine was sleeping. Hera hated to wake her up, but it was better she did it than one of the boys.

She put her hand on Sabine’s arm and gently shook her awake. Sabine turned over with a low whine, using her hand to try and lazily bat Hera away, which Hera simply laughed at.

“Good morning, Sabine.”

“Mmmph.”

“Kanan’s making flatcakes.”

Hera was suddenly very aware that she hadn’t said those words, or anything similar, in years. And when Sabine smiled sleepily, something told Hera she was too.

“I’ll be up in a sec.”

Hera ruffled her messy, purple hair before heading up the stairs to wake up the rest of the family. She passed Jacen’s room, opting to wake up Zeb and Ezra first. The bedroll and sleep mat were next to each other, but evidently through the night Zeb and Ezra had both rolled to share the sleep mat, which deflated under the combined weight. Hera couldn’t help her quiet “aw” as she saw Zeb’s arm draped protectively over Ezra- he had tried to hide it, but she could always tell that he missed Ezra the most.

She crouched down next to the snoring pair, the only other sound being the humming of Chopper’s charger. She nudged Ezra first, who blinked slowly, before smiling at Hera before him.

“Good morning, Ezra,” she said, and Ezra lifted his head a bit.

“You’re a lot better to wake up to than Thrawn.”

Hera laughed. “I’d hope so. Kanan’s making flatcakes for breakfast.”

“Oh, I missed his flatcakes,” Ezra said, and Hera nodded in agreement.

“What about mine?” Zeb grumbled, getting a laugh out of both Hera and Ezra. Hera stood up, giving Zeb a gentle nudge with her foot. “Both of you get up. And make sure Sabine is really awake when you get down there too.”

She could hear mumbles of bickering as she walked out and down the hall towards Jacen’s room, and shook her head with a chuckle. When she got to Jacen’s door, she peeked in. He was sound asleep, his mouth half-open with quiet snorts.

Hera smiled-- she wasn’t sure how or why the galaxy blessed her as much as it did.

She slowly walked over to his bed, sitting on it and reaching to gently stroke the soft green hair there. She didn’t want to wake him up, yet at the same time she absolutely did. She let her hand fall down to gently hold his shoulder and she gave him a gentle shake.

“Rise and shine,” she said softly. Jacen sat up, his eyes still closed and pieces of his hair sticking in every direction.

“Wha?”

“It’s morning, little one,” Hera said with a quiet laugh. “Time to wake up.”

“Okay…” Jacen said. Hera leaned in to kiss his cheek. 

“Ka- Daddy made flatcakes for breakfast.”

That made Jacen perk up. He grinned at her. “Flatcakes?”

“Mmhmm. And you’ve never had your daddy’s flatcakes, but he makes the  _ best _ ones. Even better than Uncle Zeb’s.”

“Hey!” Zeb said, walking by the door as Ezra snickered. But when Hera looked back, he gave her a smile before he went down the stairs. Hera cupped Jacen’s cheeks in her hands, squishing his face a little bit.

“Want to go try them?”

“Yes!” Jacen said, jumping from his bed and running out the door, a blur of purple and orange pajamas. Hera laughed, getting off his bed herself and going out.

“Careful down the stairs, Jacen!”

He didn’t seem to listen, but he was fine anyway. She heard Kanan’s delightful “Good morning, kiddo!” and smiled.

Hera went down the stairs herself, into the living room, where Zeb and Ezra were shaking Sabine, who evidently had lied about getting up “in a sec.”

“I saved your life, Ezra,” Sabine said, smacking him. “Don’t be so ungrateful.”

Hera chuckled as she went around them and into the kitchen, where Jacen was climbing up into a seat at the kitchen table, eagerly waiting for Kanan’s flatcakes. Hera stroked Kanan’s arm as she got close to him, and looked over to the plate of already-finished ones next to the stove. It wasn’t a neat stack, but Hera couldn’t complain.

“Mind if I get Jacen a plate, love?”

“Of course not.”

Hera took a plate from her cabinet, and put a flatcake on it, before stopping.

“How many do you want, Jacen?”

“A hundred!”

Hera laughed, and so did Kanan, throwing his head back and laughing loudly, and her heart sang from how much she had missed his laughter.

“How about we start with two, and then we’ll see if you’re still hungry, okay?”

“Okay…” Jacen said, though he sounded a little deflated. Hera put a second flatcake on the plate, and then grabbed a bottle of chocolate syrup, and drew a quick smile-y face on the flatcake (Zeb started doing that for him about a year and a half ago, and Jacen had insisted on having a smile on his flatcakes ever since), grabbed a fork from a drawer and set the plate down in front of Jacen, who started to eat, somehow getting chocolate syrup all over his face in seconds. Hera went to get a plate for herself too, but the doorbell rang. Hera frowned, going out towards the door, running into Zeb and Ezra, who apparently had finally dragged Sabine awake.

The doorbell rang- whoever was there was very impatient, and Hera got to the door quickly, trying to straighten her rumpled sleepclothes as she did. She opened the door, and tilted her head when she saw who was standing there.

“Rex?”

“Is it true?”

Hera raised an eyebrow- she certainly had an idea of what he meant, but Rex was hardly ever vague like this.

“Is what true?”

“Sabine and Ahsoka. They found Ezra?”

Hera nodded, and gave him a small smile.

“And… Kanan?”

Hera stepped back, motioning for him to come in. Rex practically stormed into the kitchen and collided with Kanan for a hug.

“Whoah, whoah,” Kanan exclaimed, trying to step backwards. “Watch the stove! Who-”

“You can’t come back from the dead and not tell me, Jedi,” Rex said, letting go of Kanan. Kanan turned around, smiling at him.

“Sorry, captain, I’ve got a lot going on. Hope you can forgive me.”

“Just this once,” Rex said, bemused. “Ahsoka commed last night. Are Sabine and Ezra here?”

“You walked right by us,” Ezra said. Rex turned around and smiled at them- both were sitting across from Jacen at the table, Ezra directly across and Sabine next to him. Jacen had even stopped eating to watch, though his face was practically covered in chocolate. Rex came around the table to come behind them, hugging them both from behind, throwing his arms around their necks and pulling them close. Ezra and Sabine both laughed as he did it, their smiles wide.

Hera went into the cabinet and grabbed more plates, stacking them up and taking them to the table.

“Rex, you want to stay for breakfast?”

“Is that an invitation?”

“You’re always invited.”

Rex smiled and nodded, and Hera started loading the plates with Kanan’s flatcakes, and passing them around the table, giving Zeb a plate with the biggest stack, which he rewarded her for with a huge grin. Everyone was eating, and Hera smiled when Kanan put another on a plate. She tapped his arm.

“Go sit down and eat these, dear, I’ll make my own.”

He snorted, and poured some more of the batter onto the pan over the stove.

“Kanan, I mean it.”

He looked at her- well, not looked, but turned to face her- and his face looked almost bewildered, one of his eyebrows cocked.

“Really?”

Zeb snorted from the table, and Hera rolled her eyes. “Yes, go eat with the family.”

She took the spatula from him and pushed the plate into his hands. He smiled at her.

“Alright, Captain, I hear you.”

“It’s General, now,” Sabine said with a mouth half full of food as Kanan sat his plate down on the table. He stopped before he could sit down, raising his eyebrows and half-smiling.

“General?” he asked, his pale blind eyes twinkling. “Since when?”

Hera turned around, setting the spatula aside. “Right before we left for the attack on Lothal. I guess… I guess I never got a chance to tell you.”

Kanan grinned at her and went over to hug her quickly, her feet lifting off the ground just a little bit as he did, and he spun her around. Hera laughed and squeezed him back.

“I’m so proud of you,” he said, kissing her cheek before letting her go.

Hera could see the rest of the family smiling at them too, and it was infectious. She rubbed Kanan’s arm, and pushed him gently back towards the table.

“Go eat, love.”

She turned around towards the stove, her face prickling just a bit with heat as she picked the spatula up and watched the batter of the flatcake in the pan while everyone else kept eating. When she decided to flip it, it was apparently too late, because the side was almost entirely black. She pursed her lips, glancing back quickly to the table behind her.

Well, at least Kanan couldn’t see the mistake. She could already hear him telling her “I told you so” or “should’ve just let me cook it.”

When she slid the spatula underneath the flatcake to move it to her plate, she did it sooner than the first side, but it was still a much darker brown than anyone else’s.

She poured syrup over her plate- a  _ lot _ of it- turned the stove off, and went to sit at the table, next to Kanan. He smiled at her, and she returned the expression, even if he couldn’t see it. Zeb looked at her plate, and then up at her, his face full of amusement, but he didn’t say anything,

Hera cut a piece of her flatcake, hoping Kanan didn’t hear the quiet crunches despite the small tilt of his head as they happened while chewed on his own. When Hera bit the piece she’d cut off, there was an even louder crunch, and Hera heard Kanan swallow his flatcake and stifle quiet laughter with the back of his hand.

“That’s a loud crunch.”

Hera swallowed the piece. “Maybe I like it crunchy.”

“No you don’t. Want me to make you a better one?”

“There’s no batter, and you still have to finish yours.”

“I’ll make more.”

“No, don’t. It’s not bad.”

To prove her point. She took another bite, letting it crunch. Kanan shook his head, and returned to his plate, eating the softer flatcakes that she missed.

But Hera was okay. She had missed the man next to her even more, and she much preferred him over some flatcakes.

As everyone started to finish their food, Kanan and Hera both gathered the dishes, stacking them in the sink- between that and dinner last night, they had a lot to wash, not that she minded. She found herself excited to wash dishes with him- it just meant more time spent together.

Sabine was the first to stand up as the table was cleared.

“I should really go soon,” she said, and the reluctance in her voice sounded entirely genuine. “I promised my mother I’d visit, and if I don’t see Ketsu soon I don’t know what she’ll do.”

Hera laughed, wiping her hands and going over to Sabine.

“I understand. You have a ride?”

“Ahsoka is coming back to take me.”

Rex’s head swung up. “Ahsoka is coming?”

Hera smiled. “You should tell her to stop by. Jacen has barely spent any time with his Aunt ‘Soka.”

“Yeah!” Jacen said from the counter. He was sitting next to the sink, while Kanan was wiping his face clean, asking Zeb every few wipes where there was still chocolate left. Kanan chuckled.

“I haven’t seen Ahsoka in years,” Kanan remarked.

“Maybe another time,” Sabine said. “She said she’s got a lot of people to go see.”

“Well, I’m going with you to meet her,” Rex said.

Sabine beamed. “I bet she’d like that. She’s meeting me at the hangars in an hour, so I should probably go soon.”

She went to the living room, presumably to pick up her armor, and Rex followed her.

“At least tell Chopper up there to turn himself on before you leave,” Hera called after them. “He’ll be sad if he doesn’t get to say goodbye.”

“I will!” Sabine yelled back.

Hera turned back around to Kanan with a smile, who finished wiping Jacen’s face and helped him hop off the counter to run after Sabine. Kanan chuckled.

“Chopper is really still charging?”

“I’m telling you,” Hera said. “That droid got lazy as soon as the war ended. I think Jacen spoils him.”

“So do you,” Zeb said with a gruff voice. Hera rolled her eyes as she turned around towards the table.

“Better than letting Jacen have ice cream for dinner.”

“That was once, and he was sad!”

“Right.”

Kanan laughed, and came behind to put a hand on Hera’s shoulder, and she stiffened slightly at the touch, like it was a jolt of electricity. She reached up to put a hand over his, and Zeb and Ezra gave her knowing smiles. Zeb’s ears quickly twitched to flatten guiltily against his head.

“I- I should probably head out too. Alex is waiting for me-”

“Why would Kallus be waiting for you?” Kanan asked. Hera looked up at his face to see a smirk, and she then looked back to smile at Zeb, wiggling an eyebrow. Zeb looked down in embarrassment, and Ezra snickered, elbowing him. Hera shook her head and pulled away from Kanan, going over to Zeb.

“Alright, let’s give him a break. We’re gonna miss you, Zeb, as always. Do you need a ride back?”

He smiled and hugged her. “No, I got it. There’s a transport leaving soon I can catch.”

“Someone’s gotta let me give them a ride,” Hera said with a laugh before breaking the hug. “Thank you for watching Jacen.”

“Anytime,” Zeb said with a proud smile. “You know I love that kid.”

Hera beamed at him, patting his chest affectionately before going around to call towards the living room.

“Zeb’s leaving, everybody!”

Jacen was the first to charge from the living room, colliding with Zeb’s legs. Zeb laughed and reached down to pick him up, swinging him around in a tight hug as Jacen giggled. Chopper followed after him, and Hera reached down to pat the top of his dome.

“Was wondering when you’d get up.”

Chopper let out a warbling laughter as he bumped himself gently into her leg to show affection, before rolling over and doing the same to Kanan, who stumbled a little bit, having been caught off guard. Hera laughed, and reached to gently take Kanan’s arm to help him steady himself, which he gave her a grateful smile for her.

Sabine and Rex came quickly after out of the living room, Sabine finishing up fastening her left shoulder armor. Zeb soon set Jacen down, and went over to hug Sabine, then Rex, before going to Ezra and practically grabbing him to pull him into a hug. Ezra laughed and threw his arms as much around Zeb as he could reach, and Hera smiled while she watched them.

Zeb mumbled something to Ezra that no one else could hear, but whatever it was prompted Ezra to happily bury his face against Zeb before they let go. Zeb affectionately rubbed the hair on top of Ezra’s head.

“And shave, kid, what you’ve got there doesn’t work,” he said, tapping a large finger on Ezra’s cheek, which Ezra batted away.

Ezra shook his head and laughed, and then Zeb came around to Kanan and hugged him so tight he picked him up. Hera couldn’t help but laugh a little bit- Kanan certainly wasn’t small, but he looked so when Zeb picked him up like that. Kanan returned the hug with a chuckle of his own, but he let out a groan as Zeb continued to squeeze him tighter and tighter.

“Zeb, you’re crushing me,” Kanan said, his voice strained.

“That’s for making Hera cry,” Zeb said, continuing to squish Kanan. “And Sabine, and Ez-”

Something popped loudly in Kanan’s back, and Kanan let out a quick, loud sigh as Zeb’s eyes widened, and he set him down on the ground.

“Karabast, mate, you alright?”

“Language, Orrelios,” Hera snapped quickly, motioning her head towards Jacen. Zeb gave an apologetic half-nod.

“Yeah,” Kanan said, flexing and stretching. “That… felt good, actually.”

Hera laughed, smiling as Zeb did too, waving goodbye.

“Well, I better get going,” he said, somewhat sheepishly. “I’ll see everyone soon.”

“Bye, Zeb,” Hera said. “Call me when you get home, alright?”

“I will,” he promised, waving one more time as he started to back out the door.

“Bye Uncle Zeb!” Jacen chirped, and everyone said their goodbyes too.

“Tell Kallus we said hello!” Ezra called, which Zeb answered by just shutting the door. Everybody laughed at that, and Sabine gave a wave too. “We have to go meet Ahsoka, so we should go now too.”

Hera nodded in understanding, and went over to hug her. They repeated the same cycle of hugs Zeb did before he left, Sabine hugging Jacen first and then with her and Kanan hugging particularly tightly. Hera saw Kanan smile as he pressed his lips to the crown of Sabine’s head, into her hair for a soft kiss.

“I’m proud of you,” he whispered to her, just barely loud enough for Hera to hear. Sabine rested against him for a few more moments before pulling back, and smiling up at him. Kanan ruffled her hair, before moving his hand down to rest on her shoulder.

“A lot shorter. What color did you say it was now?”

“Purple. But darker than Zeb’s stripes.”

“I’m sure it looks nice. Now get going, you don’t want to keep Ahsoka waiting.”

Hera hugged Sabine next-to-last, while Jacen was picked up by Rex. “Tell Ahsoka she’ll have to stop by sometime,” she said. “And-”

“Call you when I get home, I know,” Sabine said with a smile. Sabine pulled away from the hug, and slowly went over to Ezra, spreading her arms.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” Ezra said with a grin, hugging her. He smirked over Sabine’s shoulder.

“Still taller,” he remarked.

“Only physically,” Sabine snapped with a quiet laugh.

They held onto each other for a little while, but when they broke apart she punched his arm gently, before going out with Rex against the goodbyes of the family left in Hera’s home. When the door shut, Hera smiled warmly at Ezra.

“Are you leaving us too?”

He rubbed an arm awkwardly on the back of his neck. “I don’t… really know where I could go.”

“Well,” Hera said. “You’re more than welcome to stay here as long as you want. But you should definitely go see Lothal- it’s more beautiful than ever.”

Ezra smiled proudly. “I can’t wait.”

“I’m sure Jai would let you stay with him if you asked.”

Ezra perked up. “Jai? Does he still talk about me?”

Hera chuckled. “Yes, he does. Everyone still talks about you.”

Ezra beamed proudly. “Could we go tomorrow? Would you mind taking me?”

“Of course,” she turned around to Kanan and Jacen. “We could make it a day-trip. How does that sound?”

“Awesome!” Jacen yelled, the volume of it catching Hera off guard. Kanan laughed and gently shushed him.

Hera still felt a warm glow within in herself- her family was more whole than she ever thought it would be, and she never wanted that to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Hera is the best Hera!


	4. The Ghost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan, Hera, Chopper, Ezra and Jacen all get ready to go to Lothal.

Hera hummed and nuzzled her face against Kanan’s neck. She thought he was still asleep, but he responded with a chuckle that she could feel in his chest and winding his arms tighter around her waist.

“I want every morning to be like this,” Hera said quietly.

“They can be,” he answered. “Unless you want me to leave.”

“Never.”

Hera lifted her head to look at him. The rising sun was sending golden light through the window that shined in Kanan’s hair, and very pleasantly highlighted the structure of his face. She reached with her hand to stroke it gently.

“Glad I grew it out again?” he asked, and Hera laughed quietly.

“Mmhmm.”

“I thought about what you said- that you hated it. And you were probably right- you’re the one who has to see it, after all. And I think I like it this way too. Feels more natural.”

He smiled as he said it, but it hurt Hera’s heart.

It was true. She  _ did _ hate the shorter hair and clean-shaven face; it didn’t frame his facial features as nicely, and she wouldn’t have been able to play with it. But she’d replayed the night he’d rescued her in her head thousands of times since it happened, and the fact that those words were among her last to him had torn her apart for years.

“I- I’m sorry about that, love.”

“Nothing to be sorry about,” he said simply, bending to kiss her cheek gently and then started pressing a trail of kisses down her cheekbone. Hera smiled and let out a happy sigh.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” he murmured, and pulled himself away to sit up more, and Hera did the same.

“After we drop off Ezra, what… what are we going to do?” Kanan asked.

“Come home,” she said simply, tracing her fingers gently down one of his arms. “Why?”

“You want me here, right?”

Hera frowned. “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

He smiled. “Just wanted to make sure. And the Rebellion-”

“There is no more Rebellion,” she reminded him. “It’s the New Republic. The war is over, the Empire is dead.”

“Right,” Kanan said. “But… how much do you have to do for them?”

“Not much,” Hera admitted. “I do supply runs sometimes. Bringing food, water, technology, everything to people who need them. The Empire left a scar on the galaxy, but the New Republic is healing it.”

“What about the military?”

“Chancellor Mothma reduced the New Republic military, she doesn’t want to become the new Empire or repeat the Old Republic’s mistakes. I’m semi-retired- on call for emergencies, but not as involved as I used to be. They don’t really need me anymore.”

Kanan shook his head. “You’re still the best pilot in the galaxy, that can’t be right.”

“No, it’s true. It’s all politics now.”

“You’d be good at politics.”

Hera snorted. “Maybe. But I’d rather stick to the cockpit. Are you complaining that I’m not working as much anymore?”

Kanan smiled at her, with a hint of pride in there. “Of course not. But they’re paying you for all that, right?”

“Of course, I have to take care of Jacen somehow, right? I get paid for the missions, and veterans get checks too.”

Hera made plenty to take care of her family. The checks were based on how long they were fighting, the rank they held, how many battles they fought, and how many serious and long-lasting injuries they sustained, and most of those factors made sure Hera was very well taken care of. She made a mental note to stop by the office on Yavin soon and file for Kanan’s- technically, he was still legally dead.

Kanan nodded. She could tell he was forming another question, and she couldn’t blame him- he hadn’t asked many before this. “Does Zeb always babysit Jacen for you?”

“On long missions, like that last one, he likes to come out. It’s a long trip for him, he lives on Lirasan now. Usually Rex will watch him, since he lives here. Or Shara and Kes.”

“Who?”

“The neighbors,” Hera explained. “They’re nice, you’ll have to meet them. Shara is a pilot, and Kes was in the infantry. They’ve also got a son, Poe. He’s a little younger than Jacen, but they get along really well. My dad watches him sometimes too,” she added, trying to complete the list of babysitters.

Her father was still on Ryloth, though he’d stepped down from leading because of his age, which made Hera glad she didn’t have to worry about him anymore. He was relaxing more, spending time with some of Hera’s relatives in the Syndulla clan. Hera sometimes wished he lived closer, but she knew better than to try and get her father to leave Ryloth, and she found a lot of comfort in living around people who understood.

“I’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Kanan said with a chuckle, and Hera smiled at him.

“It’s alright, dear. We have time.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Lot of veterans around here.”

Hera nodded too. “That’s what the Yavin colony was for. To give a home to people who didn’t have somewhere to go back to.”

“Sounds like something you were involved with.”

Hera raised an eyebrow. “What makes you figure that?”

“Because you’ve always given a home to people that are lost.”

Hera smiled at him, even if he couldn’t see it, and squeezed his arm.

“We should get up, if we want to go to Lothal today.”

Hera couldn’t wait to see Ezra’s reaction to it all. The city and the lands around it were more beautiful than ever. The sky seemed to be clearer, less fogged by the haze created by the Empire’s overproduction, and the wildlife ran more freely.

And Kanan couldn’t see it, but she hoped they’d be able to describe it adequately enough that he knew exactly what he sacrificed himself for.

“How long will it take?”

“Much shorter than it used to, now that we don’t have to worry about hiding or getting through a blockade,” Hera remarked, reluctantly pulling herself away from Kanan to get dressed. “But it’s still quite a trip.”

Kanan got up too, and Hera helped him find his clothes- the same he’d worn since he arrived, she realized- before returning to getting herself ready.

“I’ll make something quick for breakfast,” Kanan 

“I’ll get Jacen and Ezra up,” Hera said. “A lot of your stuff is still in the  _ Ghost _ , we can bring it back here when we come home. I still have most of your clothes in your old room, I think.”

The task of actually getting rid of Kanan’s things, even the ones that didn’t really matter, had always daunted her, so she’d put it off for years, with the excuse that she had better things to do. Now that it was off her chest (in a much better way than she ever could have anticipated), she was excited to go bring his things back to her house. She’d just have to make room for another dresser.

Hera smoothed her pant legs out- she didn’t  _ have _ to wear her flightsuit every time she flew, but she always did. She stepped out of her room, going towards the refresher and already trying to imagine how big the smile on Ezra’s face will be.

* * *

They were leaving later than Hera wanted to, but only because Kanan and Ezra needed some time in the  _ Ghost _ before they moved. They’d both made a beeline for their old rooms. Hera left them alone for a while, opting to give them some space and play “restaurant” with Jacen in the kitchen, but when Jacen grew tired of the game she checked on them. Ezra was smiling and handling his old collection of helmets, some of them having been painted and others still clean, if gathering a little dust. Hera smiled at him in the doorframe.

“Zeb kept them clean for you before he moved out. He thought you might still want them.”

Ezra nodded, turning over a painted TIE Pilot helmet in his hands. Hera gave him a small nod, and slid over to Kanan’s room. The door opened, and she saw Kanan sitting in the center of the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed in meditation.

“You can stay here, but I think I’ll start the ship. We should really get going.”

Kanan nodded and opened his eyes, slowly standing up to follow her towards the cockpit.

“Of course,” he said. “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem, dear,” Hera said. “I understand.”

Kanan traced his hand down the wall as they started walking, like he did when he first came back after Malachor. Hera looked behind her to see Jacen approaching him to take his other hand eagerly, and she smiled.

“Are we going now?” Jacen asked, and Kanan smiled.

“Yeah, sorry kiddo,” he answered. “I just missed the  _ Ghost _ , that’s all. I needed some time.”

When they got to the cockpit, Chopper was already waiting for them, and warbled impatiently that they took way too long. Hera just snorted and gave him a quick apology as she sat in the pilot’s seat. Kanan took his normal seat next to her, which made Jacen give a surprisingly loud huff of indignance.

“Daddy, that’s my seat!”

Kanan raised an eyebrow quickly, sending a look Hera’s way before turning to face Jacen. “Oh, is it? I’m sorry,” he said, and he extended his hands out to Jacen. “Well, it used to be my seat too. Why don’t we share?”

Jacen giggled and took Kanan’s hands, and Kanan pulled him up onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him protectively and kissing the crown of Jacen’s head. Hera smiled as she prepped the ship in cooperation with Chopper- it was always so satisfying to flip all the switches, press the buttons and check all the screens she needed to.

“Ezra,” she called back once she was ready. “We’re about to take off.”

The trip to Lothal would include quite a bit of time in hyperspace, but she doubted anybody would mind.

Well, maybe Jacen would. But she was sure that together they could all keep him well-entertained enough. 


	5. Lothal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera, Kanan, Jacen and Ezra arrive on Lothal.

Hera pulled the _ Ghost _ out of hyperspace, and Lothal seemed to float like a marble of blue, white and brown among the stars. She felt the back of her seat move a little bit, and glanced back to see that Ezra had stood up, bracing himself with a hand on the back of the pilot’s seat and smiling as he looked at Lothal through the viewport.

“Welcome home,” she said, and Ezra laughed quietly, a little in awe.

“It’s even better than I remembered.”

“Just wait until you see the city.”

She pushed down towards Lothal, getting close to breaking the atmosphere. Assuming she and Chopper had calculated the jump correctly (which they always did), they would have to do a little in-atmosphere flying to get to the hangar in the capitol city. She could have jumped to a spot around the planet that may have put them closer, but she wanted Ezra to have as much time to soak in the aerial view of Lothal as he wanted. He’d certainly earned it.

The _ Ghost _ breached the clouds, and Hera heard Ezra gasp quietly.

She could understand why Ezra missed it so much. The rolling hills and tall grasses, dotted with Lothal’s signature rock spires, and just the hint of the cityscape in the distance. Hera tried to pull them even lower, so he’d get a glimpse of Lothal’s fauna exploring the lands, without Imperial transports or troops to trample them. 

“Wow,” she heard Ezra breathe, and Hera smiled.  
  


* * *

Ezra had messaged Jai Kell the night before, and he was waiting for them as they walked from the spot Hera had taken in the hangar. Ezra was already smiling just from being back on Lothal, but his face lit up even more when he saw Jai.

“Ezra!”

Ezra sped up as he made a beeline towards Jai, the two of them colliding together, hugging and laughing. Hera felt Kanan at her back as she watched the two of them, smiling. She turned around to see him holding Jacen at his waist with both arms. Jacen was starting to get bigger and heavier to hold (which pained Hera as much as it made her happy), but Kanan didn’t seem to mind. And Jacen didn’t either- they had missed the prime years for Kanan to carry him.

They all greeted Jai in the hangar once he and Ezra broke apart, and he and Ezra chatted the entire walk to his house. Hera let them catch up, and hung back with Kanan and Jacen, teasing Jacen with tickling brushes against his side that made him giggle and squirm in Kanan’s arms.

“Careful,” Kanan warned with an amused chuckle. “I don’t want to drop you, kiddo.”

“Mommy is tickly!”

Hera laughed and kissed his cheek affectionately as they continued to walk. As he held Jacen, Hera couldn’t take Kanan’s hand, so she settled for gently holding on to his arm, enjoying feeling the muscle there through his shirt.

Jai’s home wasn’t far from the hangar, so it didn’t take long to get there. He was still rapidly talking to Ezra, mostly about how much Lothal had changed for the better, from what Hera had heard. He unlocked the door and opened it, and finally stopped from talking to call to his mother.

“We’re here, mom!”

Jai Kell’s mother- a woman that looked a lot like him, with dark red hair pulled back into a loose bun and the beginnings of wrinkles around her eyes- came smiling from the kitchen, smoothing her hands on a pale green apron.

“Welcome!”

She came to the door to greet them, pressing a quick kiss to Jai’s cheek and then turning to Ezra, putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Ezra Bridger,” she said kindly. “You know, Jai has not stopped talking about you since you met.”

Ezra smiled sheepishly and fidgeted with his hands. “Really?”

“Mom,” Jai urged, earning a chuckle from the three older adults in the room.

“Really,” she said, letting go of him to go around to Kanan and Hera. She gave Kanan and Hera a warm smile.

“I haven’t seen you two since you helped us hide after the… Academy incident. Thank you.”

“It was a pleasure to help you,” Hera said, accidentally slipping just a little bit into the cordial voice she used for years as General Syndulla.

Ms. Kell nodded gratefully, and came closer to Kanan, bowing her head a little bit to meet with where Jacen’s eye level was in Kanan’s arms.

“And I don’t think I’ve met you before,” she said with a smile. “What’s your name?”

He smiled at her, and gave a little giggle. “Jacen.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jacen. I’m Ms. Kell. How old are you?”

Jacen held up his hand, all five fingers open, and Ms. Kell gave him an impressed gasp. “Wow, you’re almost all grown up!”

Jacen beamed proudly as Ms. Kell then ushered them all further into the house, into a sitting room.

“Jai said you didn’t have a place to stay, Ezra,” she said. “So you can stay here as long as you like, we’ve got plenty of room.”

“Thank you, Ms. Kell,” Ezra said. “That means a lot.”

“After all you’ve done for everybody, it’s the least we can do for you.”

* * *

Hera watched Ezra bouncing Jacen in his lap while he and Jai talked. Hera, quite honestly, hadn't been to Lothal that often in years, and the last time she was there for any long amount of time was when she had Jacen, so hearing all of the things about just how much better it was thanks to Ezra from Jai and his mother was interesting to her too. She felt the gentle brush of fingertips against her shoulder, reminding her that Kanan had his arm resting on the back of his couch behind her.

She spared a glance to the chrono on the wall, and sucked in a quiet breath.

“I hate to interrupt-” she said. “But it’s getting late, and we’ve got a long flight back, I think we should start heading home.”

Jacen pouted and slid off of Ezra to join the spot where Kanan and Hera sat. Ezra smiled at Hera gratefully.

“Thank you for taking me.”

“You’re welcome, Ezra. Are you staying here?”

“Um-” he looked over to Jai, and then to Ms. Kell, who both nodded at him. “I think so,” he finished, and his voice sounded a little guilty.

“It’s alright, Ezra,” she said with a chuckle, standing up and going over to him. He mirrored the action, and she hugged him tightly, pressing her face into the short, dark hair on his head.

“I’m so, so proud of you,” she whispered. “And I missed you so much.”

He squeezed her in the hug a little tighter. “I missed you too.”

She held on for a few more moments, before finally stepping back.

“I’ll visit,” he promised.

“I’d hope so,” Hera said sternly, but she could feel the softness of her smile. “But take some time to appreciate the new Lothal before you go anywhere else.”

“Oh, I will.”

Jacen ran and hugged Ezra before Hera had even fully stepped aside, which everyone laughed about. Ezra knelt down to hug him back, grinning as Jacen nuzzled against him.

“You’ll see me soon, Jacen,” Ezra said.

Jacen pulled away from the hug a little bit to look at Ezra. “Promise?”

“I promise,” Ezra said. He ruffled Jacen’s soft, green hair. “Be good for your mom and dad, alright?”

Jacen laughed and nodded, and finally, Kanan slowly approached Ezra. Ezra threw his arms around him, and Hera could see Kanan winding his arms around him tightly and protectively. They rested against each other, neither of them saying anything. The thing that Hera learned about Kanan and Ezra, though, was that they didn’t always need to.

When they finished hugging, Hera took Kanan in one hand, and Jacen in the other, saying their goodbyes to the Kells and Ezra before leaving towards the hangar as Lothal’s twin moons just began to rise.

* * *

Jacen was sleeping soundly in Kanan’s room on the _ Ghost _ as Hera stared out the viewport, her feet propped up on the console. She kept looking over to Kanan in the co-pilot’s seat, as if she was making sure that he wouldn’t disappear on her again. He was also leaning back, just relaxing in the quiet of hyperspace.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“You know what this reminds me of?”

“Hmm?”

“Back when we first got together, and it was just the two of us,” he said. “And Chopper.”

Hera nodded thoughtfully. “Mmm, yeah. But it’s a little different. We don’t get shot at anymore. We have _ way _more friends. And we’ve got kids.”

“And we’re old.”

That caught Hera. For their earlier years together, the only future Hera thought about was the next mission, the newest intel, and the abstract concept of a victory over the Empire. Kanan, not long before the assault on Lothal, had mentioned the idea of a future beyond the war, which she’d never truly considered before, but she didn’t get a chance to let her mind wander too far when she thought about the idea before she’d lost Kanan. And the idea of a future with him, growing old with him, crumbled, just as she was realizing that it was everything she wanted.

But now he was back, and that idea was too.

Hera chuckled. “Maybe. But I like being old with you.”

Kanan chuckled quietly too, and fingered the hair on his chin. There was another long pause, as Hera stared out into the blue tunnel of hyperspace, watching the streaks of darker and lighter and more middle-toned blues fly by.

“We’re not _ that _ old.”

Kanan laughed, and Hera couldn’t help but join him.


	6. Neigbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera, Kanan and Jacen go over to their neighbors' home for dinner.

“You look nice,” Hera said fondly as she walked into the bedroom, adjusting the sleeves of her own shirt. Kanan was preening himself, combing through his hair and beard with his fingers, then trying to adjust his dark brown jacket. He was in front of the mirror, but facing away from it.

“You sure it matches? I can’t really… tell.”

Hera laughed, approaching him to rub his arm. “Yes, it does. You’re not Sabine- there’s not a lot of different colors in your wardrobe.”

“Does it match  _ too _ much?”

“You look great, love,” Hera said, punctuating it with a kiss to his cheek before giving his arm a squeeze and going to the dresser. “Since when are you so worried about how you look?”

“I want to make a good impression on the neighbors, that’s all. And you said to dress nice.”

“Well, I think you’re dressed very nice. I picked out some clothes for Jacen, they’re on his bed. Would you mind making sure he gets dressed, and maybe helping him?”

“Of course not. He’s in his room?”

“Mmhmm.”

Kanan stepped out of the room, and Hera went to the mirror herself, folding down the collar of her shirt and smoothing her dress pants, flashing herself a smile before going to her dresser and lifting up a necklace. It was simple, a gold-colored chain with a round jiang pendant at the bottom- Zeb had given it to her for her thirtieth birthday just a few years ago. The pale pink contrasted nicely against the white of her shirt and the dark, almost black grey of her pants. Hera ran her thumb over the smoothed jewel before lifting the necklace up to her neck, clasping the back behind her and letting it rest against her chest.

“Kanan? Jacen?” Hera called as she left her room, going down to Jacen’s. “Ready? We don’t want to be late!”

Jacen leapt in front of her from his room, grinning in his blue button up. “Yes!” he shouted, and she heard Kanan laugh and half-heartedly shush him as he followed him out the doorway. Hera couldn’t help but let out a quiet  _ aw _ when she saw them both together.

“That’s great, sweetheart. You look so handsome!”

“Thank you!” Jacen giggled.

Hera bent down to kiss his cheek and smooth his hair down a little bit, failing to get some of the particularly stubborn pieces that were sticking straight up. She’d have to talk to Kanan about managing Jacen’s hair, because she still struggled with it.

She stood up and smiled at Kanan.

“You look handsome too, dear.”

Kanan nodded, and then nudged Jacen with his hand. “Jacen, tell me- does your mommy look beautiful right now?”

“Yes,” Jacen said, and Kanan smiled and reached forward to take Hera’s hand.

“Thought so.”

She felt her face warm a little as he squeezed her hand.

“We should go now. Don’t want to keep Poe waiting, right Jacen?”

He eagerly shook his head, and took down the stairs quickly, Hera squeezing Kanan’s hand back before letting go to go down the stairs. Chopper was in the living room, grumbling. Hera rolled her eyes.

“You said you didn’t want to come! You can’t eat dinner anyway, Chop.”

He let out a warbling response.

“Well, maybe someday they’ll get a droid for you to make friends with, but for now you can stay home. I thought you liked getting the house to yourself.”

_ Wop-wah _ .

Hera laughed as she got to the door with Kanan and Jacen. “You’re in charge now, Chopper. Have fun.”

Kanan opened the door for them and smiled as Hera and Jacen went out, and he followed, shutting the door behind them.

“How far is it?” Kanan asked.

“Just a short walk,” she said. “They don’t live far, and Jacen and Poe get to play together a lot.”

“Poe is my best friend,” Jacen butted in to explain to his father.

Hera laughed. “Yes,” she said to Kanan. “He’s three.”

Hera saw the Force tree that Shara and Kes had planted out front of their house (that thing grew  _ fast) _ , and there wasn’t much more of a walk until they were at the door. Hera knocked, and she saw Kanan quickly trying to fix his hair out of the corner of her eye before the door opened. Shara Bey, wearing a simple deep green jacket and pants with a white shirt smiled at them, her dark eyes glittering.

“Hera,” she said warmly. Hera smiled- it took a while to break Shara out of the habit of saying “General Syndulla.”

“Shara,” Hera responded. “Thank you so much for inviting us.”

“Of course,” Shara looked down to Jacen. “Poe is so excited to see you, Jacen. Come in, all of you.”

Jacen beamed as they all went inside. He barely acknowledged Kes as he went back towards Poe’s room, and all the adults laughed.

Hera smiled at Kanan. “Kanan, this is Lieutenant Shara Bey and her husband, Sergeant Kes Dameron. Shara, Kes, this is my… partner, Kanan. Jacen’s father.”

Shara extended a hand to Kanan’s before looking up to his eyes after he didn’t react and quickly pulling it away. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Likewise,” Kanan responded. “It’s nice to finally meet you both.”

“Come sit,” Kes said, motioning towards the table, and Hera gently held Kanan’s arm as she guided him just a little bit. He didn’t really need the help, but Hera was never too cautious when he was in a new space. They sat down at the table, Kes sitting across from Kanan at the end, and Shara next to him.

“As soon as that oven beeps, we can eat,” Shara said.

Hera nodded and smiled. “Thanks again for dinner.”

“It’s no problem. Poe loves playing with Jacen.”

Kanan cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “That tree you have out front-”

“The Force tree?” Kes asked.

“Yeah,” Kanan said. He was frowning, but in the way he did when he was thinking about something, when he furrowed his brows in that ever-so-endearing way. “It wasn’t always here, right?

“No,” Shara sait. “It was a gift from Luke Skywalker, he wanted me to plant it. It’s from a piece of the tree-.”

“From the original Jedi Temple,” Kanan said, in unison with Shara. He chuckled quietly. “I know, I could sense it. It’s growing really strong here, you picked a good place.”

Shara smiled. “That’s what Luke was hoping for. I’m glad you agree.”

Kanan nodded, and tilted his head a little bit. “Luke Skywalker, that’s the new Jedi, right?”

“Right,” Hera said. “The one trying to rebuild the Order.”

“Any relation to Anakin Skywalker?”

Hera blinked, trying to think things over. “I- I don’t… know who that is. It sounds familiar.”

Kanan shrugged. “Alright,” he smiled at Shara and Kes. “Sorry, I’m still trying to catch up with everything I missed.”

Kes nodded. “I understand. Being stuck out in Wild Space for so long must’ve been hard.”

The oven beeped, and Shara jumped from the table to go to the kitchen. Kes also stood up, and went towards Poe’s room.

“Boys, time to eat!”

In just a few moments, Jacen and Poe rushed from the room, giggling and shrieking towards the dining room, hopping onto the chairs that Shara and Kes had just occupied a few moments before. Hera smiled at Poe, who was across from her in the middle of the table.

“Hey there, Poe,” she said. “Nice to see you.”

Poe beamed at her. “Hi Aun’ Hera!”

Kes chuckled and came over with a stack of plates, setting one in front of everybody before sitting down next to Poe and gently tousling the kid’s hair. “He’s been excited all day about having Jacen over.”

Jacen and Poe exchanged a glance, giggling quietly about something Hera knew she couldn’t hope to understand. Shara set the large plate of food in the middle of the table and sat down next to Hera, across from Kes. Kes and Kanan were already taking some food from the center and putting it on Poe and Jacen’s plates, cutting it up as needed, and Shara just smiled at Hera.

“I took Poe on his first flight yesterday,” Shara said.

Hera raised her eyebrows, and looked across the table to smile at Poe. “Really? Was it fun?”

Poe nodded, grinning. “A-Wing,” he said, and Hera laughed.

“Wow, you flew an A-Wing? Did you go to space?”

He nodded again, excitedly.

“He even took over the controls for a bit,” Shara said. “He did some barrel rolls.”

Hera laughed. “Sounds like you’ve got a little flyboy on your hands.”

Shara laughed with her. “I think so.”

Both of the boys and their fathers having their plates filled, Hera and Shara started getting their own plates. There was a brief silence as everyone was eating, but then Kes swallowed a bite and looked over to Hera.

“You put in your application to the civilian defense yet?”

Hera shook her head, and swallowed a mouthful of her own. “No, I’m still technically on call for the Navy,” Hera said, and she looked to the woman sitting next to each other. “Have you?”

“Mmhmm,” Shara said, putting a hand over her mouth as she finished chewing. “I’m in with my A-Wing. You’d be great for it in the  _ Ghost _ .”

“Maybe someday,” Hera said.

She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about it. But the defense force was a volunteer organization, and didn’t pay, and technically, still being in service to the New Republic Navy, she wasn’t supposed to join. Maybe if she found a new job, she supposed.

There wasn’t much more conversation until after everyone ate. Hera insisted on helping Kes clean up the table as the boys ran back to Poe’s room to play some more, no doubt playing pilots as they usually did. Shara and Kanan were in the dining room, talking more about Luke Skywalker.

“So,” Kes said. “When’s the wedding?”

“What?”

“You and Kanan, weren’t you together for what- ten years before he went missing?”

Most people didn’t know the exact circumstances of Kanan’s death, so rather than trying to explain whatever it was with the Force that brought him back, she and Kanan had decided it was easier for them to say he had gone missing, and was believed dead.

“I- I don’t know,” Hera said. “We haven’t really talked about it.”

She’d thought about marriage, unfortunately only after what had happened on Lothal, but she wasn’t really sure it was what Kanan wanted. It certainly seemed like something he would want, but she wasn’t sure.

“Well whenever you do,” Kes said, drying his hands. “Make sure we get our invite.”

Hera chuckled as she took the towel he passed her to dry her own hands, looking over towards the dining room to watch Kanan, smiling and laughing, putting a hand back to fix his ponytail as he talked, and found herself unable to resist the quiet, content sigh she let out.


	7. Datawork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera needs to file some datawork so that the New Republic recognizes Kanan as alive, and that he can start getting his veteran's check.

“I’ll just read the questions to you, and you tell me what to fill out, alright?”

Kanan nodded. “Works for me.”

Hera smiled at him, and opened the file they’d been sent on her datapad. Kanan was leaned back on the couch in their living room, and Hera was sitting on the ottoman across from him.

“How long were you fighting the Empire?”

Kanan let out a  _ pfft _ noise, and snorted. “I was what… twenty-two when we met? So ten years.”

Hera nodded. “Mmhmm. What rank did you hold in the Rebel Alliance?”

“Didn’t have one.”

“Which of the following battles and missions were you involved in?” Hera said.

Kanan swallowed thickly. “Uh, you can just check those off.”

Hera scrolled through the list, checking off the many that she knew Kanan was involved in, stopping after she got to “Liberation of Lothal.” She swiped to the next question.

“Please select any of the following long-lasting and/or permanent effects due to injuries you sustained in service to the Rebel Alliance,” Hera read.

Kanan laughed. “You know, I can’t think of any.”

Hera rolled her eyes and checked off “blindness.”

“Hearing loss?

“What?”

“Hearing lo-” Hera stopped when his grin caught her eye. “Oh, shut up.”

Kanan laughed. “Sorry, sorry.”

“Loss of any limbs?” Hera continued to read, despite knowing the answer. She wanted to read them all to him, hating to make him feel like he couldn’t experience everything. “Paralysis? Severe disfigurement? Need for cybernetic or transplanted organs?”

“Good on all fronts,” Kanan answered.

“Infertility?”

“Let’s ask Jacen.”

Hera rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t suppress a quiet snort of laughter. She quietly checked off “PTSD,” and looked up at Kanan. “Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“Alright, that’s the last question. Want me to submit this?”

“Go ahead.”

Hera pressed the submit button, and put her datapad down. “They’ll go through their records to confirm that we didn’t lie, but then-  _ karabast _ !”

“What?”

Hera lifted the datapad again, and opened up another form- the one filled out for people who went missing and were presumed dead before being found. It didn’t exactly fit their situation, but it would have to do. “You’re still legally dead, just let me-”

She bit her lip as she tapped away at the datapad, and then submitted that form too. She smiled.

“Do I get to be alive now?” Kanan asked.

Hera laughed. “Yes, now you do, love.”

She leaned over to kiss him gently, and then sat next to him so she could rest her head on his shoulder. Kanan put his arm over her shoulders, smiling as he got to hold her.

“When you used to think about a future after the war,” Hera said. “Is this what you pictured?”  
Kanan kissed the top of her head, and the arm around her pulled her even closer against him. “I think it’s even better than I imagined.”

Hera nuzzled against him some. “Good.”

Kes’ words from the night before still rung in her mind. But she didn’t want to ask him about marriage yet. She wanted to give their reunion some time to breathe, and let him really settle in before they started to worry about all of that.

“Hera?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want me to get a job? Because- because I will, if you want me to, but… I’ve been thinking.”

“About?”

“Well, you were saying that you always have to make sure you have someone to watch Jacen when you get called for a mission, and sometimes you need someone to watch him for a while on late notice, which is hard. So, if I just stay home to take care of him, and take care of the house… you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Hera smiled and lifted her head off his shoulder, cupping one of his cheeks with her hand.

“That sounds like a great idea, love. Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” Kanan said. “I… I want to make up for lost time with him too.”

“I’m glad. Hera drew her hand away so she could kiss his cheek affectionately, and Kanan wrapped his arms around her as she did, drawing her down as they both laughed gleefully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Much shorter chapter than normal for this story, I know, but don't worry there's plenty more to come for this story (and the series in general).


	8. Glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At lunchtime, Kanan is grocery shopping and Hera is reading.

Hera adjusted her glasses on her face. They were the simplest pair she could get when she was told she needed them: simple, near-rectangular black frames. She only needed them for reading, thankfully, so she didn’t have to wear them besides that, and if she did have to read something without them, it wasn’t dire. But they made things a lot easier.

Hera blamed all the explosions and blasterfire that she’d subjected her eyes to over the years.

She clicked on her datapad to digitally turn the page of her book. It was a historical one, about the Clone Wars that Hera only vaguely remembered. She had just finished a section about the liberation of Ryloth, and quietly chuckled her way through the stories about her father and the Jedi he’d named as his favorite, Mace Windu.

“Mommy?”

Hera lowered her datapad and smiled at Jacen. “Yes, dear?”

“Where’s Daddy?”

“Daddy went out with Chopper to get groceries. He’s going to make us lunch when they get back.”

Jacen pouted and folded his arms, and Hera beckoned him onto the couch, pulling him into her lap as she put her datapad aside.

“He’ll be home soon,” she assured him. “I know you’re hungry, I am too, we just have to be patient.”

Hera barely had time to press a quick kiss squarely on Jacen’s nose before the door started to open, and he jumped off of her lap to run towards the front of the house. Hera laughed and lifted her datapad again, pushing her glasses back up and returning to her reading. She heard Jacen giddily greet Kanan at the door, and heard the rustle of grocery bags as Kanan and Chopper took them into the kitchen.

“I’m back, Hera,” he called from the kitchen.

“I heard!”

She heard him laugh and promise to make Jacen a sandwich after he and Chopper put everything away. Jacen asked to help, and Hera couldn’t focus on her book anymore, simply looking towards the kitchen, listening to them and smiling. 

“What do you want on that sandwich, kid?”

“Nutmeat and jelly.”

Hera smiled, lifting her datapad back up to try and read again. That was Jacen’s favorite.

“Make sure you slice it into triangles, love,” she said loudly.

“I know!”

It was only a few moments of hearing Kanan prepare the sandwich until she heard Jacen start to eat it (though she could only imagine the mess he was making, one she’d clean up since Kanan went shopping and made it), and then she saw Kanan come into the living room smiling. He sat down next to her on the couch, letting out a soft, satisfied groan as he sat down, and he slid an arm across the back to have it rest behind her.

“How’s your book?”

“Pretty good. It talks about that Anakin Skywalker guy you mentioned at Shara’s. Jedi General. Did you know him?”

Kanan let out a quiet snort. “Everyone in the Temple knew Master Skywalker. I never actually met him in person, but my master would talk about him. He was Ahsoka’s master.”

“ _ That’s _ where I heard the name,” Hera said.

Kanan smiled. “Yeah. I’m guessing it doesn’t say if he had any children.”

“No, it doesn’t. You think he’s Luke’s father.”

Kanan pursed his lips. “Maybe. I’ll have to talk to Ahsoka next time I see her.”

Hera nodded, and then tilted her head a little as her stomach growled. “So, what’s on the menu for our lunch?”

“I got some Rodian peppers.”

“Mmm,” Hera said, licking her lips. “Stuffing them?”

“Yes.”

“With extra spices?”

“Of course.”

“I love you.”

Kanan laughed. “I love you too. You know, I haven’t kissed you yet today.”

“No, you haven’t,” Hera said. “You left so early this morning, I thought you forgot.”

He smiled and gently leaned in to kiss her, but it was quicker than Hera would’ve liked, as he quickly pulled away, with furrowed brows and an amused smirk.

“Are you wearing glasses?”

“Oh,” Hera said, quickly reaching up to take them off. “Yeah. I got them a couple months ago, I just need them for reading.”

Kanan laughed, and she frowned.

“Don’t make fun of me,” she said.

“What? No, I think it’s cute.”

Hera rolled her eyes, but let him kiss her again, holding it for a little longer that time. When he pulled away, he gently took her chin with his fingers.

“I’ll get started on those peppers.”

“I’ll go see how much jelly is on our counters.”

Kanan laughed as they both stood up off of the couch. “And nutmeat.”

“Right, and nutmeat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen I didn't come up with "nutmeat" for peanut butter okay? Take it up with Wookieepedia.


	9. Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera have a late night talk.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Hera frowned and turned over to face Kanan, wriggling herself out of his arms in the process.

“What?”

“When you were pregnant, and Jacen was a baby, I wasn’t there. I’m sorry.”

“Love, we’ve talked about this,” Hera said. “It wasn’t your fault. There is  _ nothing _ for you to be sorry about.”

Kanan nodded reluctantly. Both of them were laying on their sides in bed. The faint moonlight through the window was the only light in their room this late, and Hera gently reached her hand over to trace some of the scars on his arms that she could just barely see. He smiled at her, but he still looked a little guilty.

“I mean, I know you weren’t alone, at least. Zeb took good care of you, right?”

Hera snorted. “Oh, he was such a mother mynock when I was pregnant. ‘Get off your feet, Hera,’” she said in a poor imitation of his voice. “‘Did you eat something, Hera? Have some water, Hera. You should go lie down, Hera.”

Kanan laughed. “But what would we do without him?”

Hera smiled upon hearing his laugh. “I have no idea. He was such a good help. He went with me to every appointment, he made sure I took care of myself, he got me to the Lothal medbay when I went into labor, and he’s always been such a great babysitter.”

“Jacen was born on Lothal?”

“Mmhmm. It was right after the battle of Scarif,” she quickly paused and scanned his face for recognition. He nodded, answering her unspoken question, and she continued, chuckling quietly. “I mean,  _ right  _ after. I think the stress of that battle did it, so he took over flying while Sabine made sure I was okay on the way.”

She had been in labor for a  _ long _ time, even for a Twi’lek- Jacen was born the day before the Death Star was destroyed, something she took some pride in, for whatever reason. She still remembered the glee on Zeb’s face as he came in and told her the news, while she was holding Jacen in her arms.

“You flew on Scarif nine months pregnant?” Kanan asked.

Of course that was what he was thinking about.

“I know,” Hera admitted. “But it turned out okay.”

It was bad timing, in Hera’s point of view. The battles over Scarif and Yavin IV were such pivotal moments for the Rebellion, and she hadn’t been at her best for Scarif, and she’d missed Yavin IV entirely.

Her mind drifted quickly to the destruction of the Death Star. It was maybe self-serving to think, but she always thought that if she’d been able to been there, she could’ve saved some lives. They destroyed the first Death Star, so the casualties were more than worth it, but there hadn’t been so few survivors of a dogfight since… since the run she lead on Lothal.

_ Maybe I couldn’t have helped. _

Her mind always went two directions when she thought about that battle- that if she’d been there, if it had timed differently from Jacen’s birth, she could’ve saved at least some of the pilots that they’d lost (when she played it in her head, she saved all of them, but she knew that was unlikely). Or, that she wouldn’t have been able to save any, and might’ve been a casualty herself.

“Hera,” Kanan said gently, jolting her from her thoughts. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Just thinking.”

“That’s never good.”

“Hey!”

Kanan laughed and leaned in to kiss her, though he missed her lips and landed on her cheek. Hera smiled and turned her face to kiss him gently, for just a moment before pulling away.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too.”

Hera’s reached up to let her finger trace Kanan’s cheekbone, her palm pressing up against the side of his face, feeling the coarse hairs brushing her hand. The moonbeams made him glow ever-so-slightly in the dark.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Hera asked, and Kanan smiled, giving her a warm chuckle.

“You’ve said handsome before. And cute. But not beautiful, I don’t think.”

“Well, I’m starting now.”

Kanan turned his head to kiss the inside of her hand, and put his hand over hers to hold the position for a little while.

“You’re beautiful too,” he mumbled against her hand. The movement was almost ticklish. “The most beautiful woman that has ever existed.”

“Flirt.”

Kanan laughed and let go of her hand, only to scoot closer to her and wrap his arms around her tightly.


	10. Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera comes home late from a dinner out with her friends.

“Chop, can you get the door?”

Hera had never been more thankful the low panel connected to the door that she’d installed as she pushed through the doorframe, her arms full with her bags. She was trying to be quiet- Jacen was certainly in bed by now, and Kanan may have been too- as she set them down on the table.

Her monthly dinner out with some of the other female pilots on Yavin IV was fun, as usual, but afterwards she’d run around to do some errands, and it left her with more bags than she’d anticipated.

She looked at the pile of bags on the table, considering for a few moments, before looking at the chrono on the wall and shaking her head. She could deal with all of that in the morning, right now she just desperately wanted to crawl into bed.

Chopper certainly wasn’t waiting to see if she wanted any more of his help, he was already rolling back towards the stairs to go charge. She couldn’t totally blame him- he’d had to listen to Hera and her friends relive some of their greatest piloting maneuvers and talk about their families for hours, as well as being used as a holoprojector whenever someone wanted to show a holo of their children (admittedly, mostly herself and Shara).

Hera yawned and rolled her shoulder, following Chopper to go through the living room up towards the stairs, being careful as she made her way through the dark home, but she stopped when she heard some snoring.

Kanan could snore loudly, but not loud enough to be heard from downstairs like this.

She blinked a few times, and examined the couch slowly. There was a shape there, and as she got closer, she could see that it was Kanan, laying asleep with Jacen in his arms. Hera smiled and knelt down to look at their sleeping faces, resting her elbows on the edge of the couch, taking a hand to gently play with the ends of Kanan’s loose hair, brushing them out of his face, and then taking a hand to gently play with Jacen’s hair. It was much, much shorter than his father’s, but still, fortunately for Hera, long enough for her to gently comb the tips of her fingers through the soft tufts there.

“Hmmph?”

Hera looked back towards Kanan, smiling at him. “Hey, love.”

“We were waiting for you to come home,” he mumbled sleepily.

“Sorry,” she said. “Chopper and I ran some errands.”

He nodded, and pulled Jacen against his chest as he slowly sat up, gently rubbing Jacen’s back and kissing the crown of his head. Kanan was blinking quickly as he tried to wake himself up.

“You can stay down here,” Hera said.

“No, no,” Kanan said, shaking his head. “Let me get him to his room, then I’ll meet you in bed.”

Hera smiled and pressed a kiss to Kanan’s cheek, then one to Jacen’s head as Kanan shifted him carefully in his arms and took to carrying Jacen up the stairs. Hera followed him, going into their room and getting herself ready for bed. It was only a few moments for Kanan to come into their room, chuckling.

“That kid is a heavy sleeper.”

“Just like his daddy,” Hera commented with a smile. Kanan laughed and leaned an arm against the wall, bumping into something Hera had hanging there and knocking it down. It hit the ground with a quiet  _ thunk _ . Hera winced, but not because she thought it would break- in fact, she knew it wouldn’t.

“Sorry,” Kanan said, bending down to pick it up.

“It’s alright, dear,” Hera watched him search the floor with his hand, patting different spots in the area where it would’ve fallen. “Here, let me-”

“No, I got it-” Kanan answered quickly, his hand finally brushed the object, and he picked it up. Even in the dark, Hera could tell that he recognized it instantly.

“Is this my mask?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Do you- want it back?”

“No, no. Unless you want me to cover my beautiful face.”

Hera smiled, and came closer to him, taking her hands over his, around the mask. “Never, love.”

She never liked it when he wore the mask after Malachor, and when he eventually would wear it less and less, she couldn’t have been happier.

He smiled and let her take the mask from him. She hung it back up on the wall.

“You kept it all this time?” Kanan asked.

“Of course I did. It was something nice to remember you by. It made me feel like you were looking out for me.”

Kanan wrapped his arms around her from behind as she looked at the mask on the wall. “Maybe I was. Did you ever wear it?”

Hera laughed. “Really?”

“Did you?”

She paused, and swallowed. “Sometimes.”

He kissed the side of her face. “Why?”

“I felt closer to you,” she admitted. “I always felt close to you, but wearing the mask… it was peaceful.”

Kanan squeezed her quickly. They were quiet for a long time, neither knowing what to say.

“Let’s go to bed,” Kanan finally said. “You’re probably exhausted.”

Hera couldn’t argue with that.


	11. Playmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chopper, Jacen and Hera are playing with toy ships.

Hera sat down on the floor next to Jacen, crossing her legs and gently tousling his hair, earning her a giggle and a smile.

“What’s going on over here?”

Chopper had each of his little claws extended, each of them holding little X-Wings, while Jacen held the toy  _ Ghost _ that Sabine had made for him. 

“A battle!” Jacen said gleefully, moving the  _ Ghost _ in combat with the X-Wings. Chopper was waving his arms around, but he didn’t seem to really know how Jacen wanted him to do it. Hera frowned and shook her head.

“Sweetheart, the  _ Ghost _ never fought X-Wings. They’re friends! The  _ Ghost _ fought TIE Fighters.”

“But I don’t have any of those,” Jacen pointed out.

Hera couldn’t argue with him there.

“The X-Wings are spies,” Jacen explained. “Pirate spies!”

Hera laughed. “Pirate spies?”

“Mmhmm.”

He made some blaster cannon sounds with his mouth as he glided the  _ Ghost _ towards the X-Wings, and Hera smiled and reached over to put her hands over his, on the toy ship.

“Here, look- if the, uh, pirate spies are shooting at you, you can spin like this,” she spun the ship as much as she could with their wrists. “Then, they won’t hit the same part of the shield multiple times. Who’s in the  _ Ghost _ ?”

Jacen paused for a little while before answering. “Um… everybody!”

Hera chuckled. “Okay, so Uncle Zeb is in the tail gun here. If you turn like this- perfect- then he can shoot them. And if he misses, then you keep going this way… exactly, so that Sabine can get them from her gun.”

“What about Daddy?”

“Daddy is in the cockpit with me, helping me keep track of all the shields, and firing some of the smaller guns.”

Jacen sat the  _ Ghost _ down, and reached up to take an X-Wing from Chopper.

“Did you and Daddy ever fly these together?”

“No,” Hera said. “I don’t think we both could have fit.”

She took the other one from Chopper, and guided it through the air, using different motions of her wrists to spin it.

“You know what it’s called when someone does that?”

“What?”

“That’s called a Tallon Roll,” Hera explained.

Hera heard Kanan’s voice from the doorframe of Jacen’s room. “Not just any pilot can do that,” Kanan said. “But your mommy is the best pilot in the galaxy. She can do anything.”

Hera smiled as he came to sit down on the ground with them. She quickly pulled a stray A-Wing out from under him when he almost sat on him.

“What else can you do, Mommy?” Jacen asked.

Hera smiled, and lifted the X-Wing up again. “Well, this here is called a smuggler’s reverse. You have to use your maneuvering thrusters to turn around really quickly right where you are, rather than having to make a big turn.”

“Will you teach me?” 

Hera smiled, and put down the X-Wing so that she could cup Jacen’s face in her hands, resisting the urge to squeeze him.

“Of course, I will. Someday,  _ you’re _ going to be the best pilot in the galaxy, I just know it.”

She leaned forward to firmly kiss his forehead, smiling proudly as she leaned away to see Jacen beaming at her.

Chopper let out an affirmative warble, and Jacen giggled and patted Chopper’s dome (probably a bit harder than Hera would have, but she knew Chopper didn’t mind). She felt Kanan put a hand on her knee, and she put a hand over to cover his gently.

She still couldn’t believe she had the future that she never thought she would.


	12. Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan and Hera get their fancy dinner out, where they get to get all dressed up (with a little of Sabine's help).

Hera blinked drowsily, stretching just a little bit and flexing her feet with a quiet groan. She felt Kanan’s arms around her waist from behind her, but didn’t think he was awake yet. She was quickly proven wrong when she felt lips gently brushing her earcone, and the hair of a beard ticking the nape of her neck.

“Morning,” he whispered- he was clearly more awake than her.

“Mmm,” was all she could manage to mumble. She felt soft laughter rumble in his chest as he pulled her closer.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Ask away.”

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Hera frowned, blinking a few more times, trying to process his words and make sure she heard them right. “What?”

“Would you like to go out on a date?”

So she did hear him.

“What kind of question is that?”

“I hardly ever got to go out with you during the war,” Kanan said. “So I want to take you on a date. A real one. Somewhere fancy, where we have to get dressed up and everything.”

Hera smiled, her fingers tracing circles in the sheets as she considered his words carefully.

“Well, that _ does _ sound nice.”

“Doesn’t it?” Kanan punctuated his question with a line of soft kisses across her jaw. “Please?”

Hera shivered pleasantly from the word, and nodded.

“Just give me the day, love.”

* * *

The projector trilled for a few moments, the blue glow formless, until it suddenly clicked, and Sabine appeared in front of her, the small hologram standing on the dressing room’s bench. She wasn’t wearing her armor, but she was wearing the clothes she always had underneath of it. She’d already redyed her hair since she last saw her- it was a deep red rather than purple. Sabine smiled at her.

“Hey!” Sabine said brightly. “What’s going on?”

Hera turned the volume down with two taps, wringing her hands a little bit. “Hey. Kanan asked me on a date.”

“That’s… I mean… good for you?”

Hera chuckled. She couldn’t blame her for the confusion. “We’re going to an upscale restaurant, and we’ve never done that before. I’m trying to figure out what to wear- I picked some stuff out, could you help me? You know about colors and everything.”

“We’re talking about the same Kanan, right? The one that can’t see?”

“Sabine-”

“What do you have?”

Hera reached to the wall to take one of the dresses from the hanger. It was black, and form-fitting. One of the attendants had recommended it to her, but Hera thought it looked too much like she was going to a funeral. She held it up for Sabine.

“Is that a solid black?”

“It has some designs stitched into it. Flowers, I think.”

Sabine shook her head, and Hera put it back, lifting up the second one. It was a little frilly, colored with a pink so light it was almost white. In addition to that, it was the most expensive of the three.

“What color is that one?”

“Pink. A really light one.”

“It’s… frilly.”

“It’s Coruscanti.”

“Do you have any more?”

Hera let out a quiet groan as she hung the pink dress up to take her last one. If it was up to her, she’d just wear a flightsuit everywhere, like she used to do during the war. It was much easier.

Her last one was a Naboo style gown, long and flowy, in a dark red color with gold adornments. Hera thought it might be a little too much, but Sabine smiled when she held it up.

“Naboo style?”

“Nobody dresses better than the Naboo, right?”

“What color is it?”

“Red.”

“Try that one on.”

“Wow, you like one of them,” Hera said. “Mind if I freeze you for a minute while I figure this thing out?”

Sabine nodded, and Hera quickly turned off her side of the call, and lifted the dress up, considering it for a few moments before undressing. Despite the dress looking complex, she found it easy to slip into, oddly enough. Maybe the stories about Naboo tailorship were true.

The fabric was soft, light and comfortable, and seemed to flow magically around Hera. The garnet layers of fabric hung to her, contrasting against the light green of her skin, and the accents of gold settled around her waist, and rested at her shoulders and ankles.

Hera looked at herself in the mirror, before spinning back around (noting the whirl of fabric as she did so) to turn the call with Sabine back on. Sabine’s face lit up as she did so.

“Wow,” she said. “They might think you belong in the Senate with that on.”

Hera smiled. “You really like it?”

“Mmhmm. You should wear that one.”

“Thank you, Sabine.”

Hera looked at herself in the mirror again. She had some gold-colored jewelry to wear with it, she was sure. She didn’t want to have to shop any more than she did.

* * *

“Sabine, I need your help.”

“Oh yeah?”

Kanan cleared his throat. He had no reason to be so nervous about a date with Hera, but for whatever reason, he was. Despite being together for _ years _, they’d hardly been on what one could call dates, and especially not one like this.

“Hera and I are going out to this place, and I need something nice to wear.”

“Mmhmm. What do you have?”

“The guy here gave me a suit… it’s just black, but that will be fine here, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. You have a tie, and everything?”

“That’s the thing. He said I should wear red or blue for a date… I don’t know why, I think he was Chandrilan, so maybe that’s a thing there. What do you think?”

“Red,” Sabine said quickly. “Definitely red. But don’t show Hera until you guys go out, alright?”

Kanan nodded, but he frowned. “Okay… you sure about red?”

“Mmhmm. It’ll look nice on you.”

She seemed really sure, but Kanan trusted Sabine. “Okay. I’ll tell them I want red. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Sabine said. “I hope you and Hera have fun.”

Kanan smiled wide, still buzzing a little with excitement at the prospect.

* * *

Hera checked her makeup one last time in the mirror as she clasped her necklace around her neck. She smiled at herself, and she heard the door open as Kanan came through- he had just seen Chopper and Jacen off to Shara and Kes’.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes, dear-” she paused as she looked at him. He was wearing a plain black suit, with a white shirt, and holding a dark red tie in his hands. “You look good,” she breathed.

“What?”

She cleared her throat. “You look good.”

Kanan smiled, pursing his lips nervously. “Thank you,” he said, holding up the tie in his hands. “Can you help me with this?”

Hera smiled back at him, walking to him with the dress flowing around her comfortably. She took the tie gently from his hands and reached up to put it around his neck, tying it the way she’d watched countless people do it before, hoping she remembered well enough. She pulled her hands away as she finished, smiling at her handiwork- it looked alright. She tucked it in and then adjusted Kanan’s jacket a little, taking an opportunity to run a hand delicately over his chest. Kanan laughed.

“You still working on the tie?”

Hera’s face flushed and she pulled her hands away. “Sorry, love.”

“It’s alright.”

Kanan bent down to kiss her, and Hera rested her forehead against his after he did.

“What made you pick red?”

“Well…” Kanan said slowly. “I called Sabine for help, and she told me to.”

Hera frowned. “When did you call her?”

“Yesterday, at the store.”

Hera stepped back from Kanan as she put a hand over her mouth to try and stifle a chuckle.

“What?” Kanan asked.

“I’m wearing red. When I was out the other day to get it, I called Sabine and she helped me pick it out.”

Kanan started laughing with her. “That girl.”

Hera took both of his hands, squeezing them.

“I like matching with you, though, love.”

He squeezed her hands back. “Me too.”

She kissed him again, one more time before they’d have to leave to make the reservation on time.

* * *

“Kanan, this place is _ incredible _,” Hera said quickly before swallowing another bite of food. Kanan smiled at her proudly. She’d explained her dress to him more on the way- it was a very dark red color, with gold accents, long and loose and made in Naboo. He was pretty sure he had a good idea of what it looked like, but he was also pretty sure that imagining her in the dress was nothing like seeing it in person.

He hated to think it, but in that way (and that way only) he was a little bit envious of everybody else in the restaurant.

Kanan lifted his fork up to his mouth. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Mmmph,” Hera said, which told him that her mouth was full. Kanan chuckled quietly and took a bite of his own. He felt around the plate with his fork, trying not to scrape it too loud- his plate was almost empty. He took a few more bites and felt around one more time. Not finding anything, he set his fork down.

“I love you,” he said.

There was a pause- presumably as she finished chewing. “I love you too,” Hera said. Kanan felt a warmth in his core as she said it, just like the first time.

“Thank you so much, love,” Hera continued. “I didn’t realize how much I needed this.”

“Me neither.”

Kanan had daydreamed about taking Hera on a fancy date since he first moved into the _ Ghost _, and maybe even before that, but he sometimes had a hard time believing it would come true.

Though, as he thought back to Jacen, there were a lot of dreams that Kanan didn’t think would come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Playing with including Kanan's POV a little more this chapter... we'll see more of it, I think.


	13. X-Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera takes Jacen out of atmosphere for a little bit of flying.

Hera put her hand on the lever to get the ship in the air. The cockpit was a little cramped, but still comfortable. Jacen was sitting in her lap, and Hera smiled at him when he leaned his head back to look up at her. He was wearing a pilot helmet that she and Zeb had modified to fit his small head.

“Jacen, sweetheart, ask Chopper if he’s ready.”

She knew he was, and she could have asked him herself through the visor set on her own head, but she knew Jacen loved to feel involved.

Jacen beamed. “Ready, Chop?”

Chopper gave an affirmative chirp (he was always much more enthusiastic and cooperative with Jacen than anyone else), and Hera pushed the lever forward, bringing the ship up.

“Once we’re in space, I’ll let you take over,” Hera said. “How’s that sound?”

“Good!”

Hera pulled them out towards the sky, beginning to break atmosphere. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of his head, feeling his soft hair tickle her nose.

“I love you,” she mumbled, too quiet for him to hear. She lifted her face up. “Y’know, I used to fly with you in this sometimes when you were just a tiny,  _ tiny _ little baby.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. But now, you get to fly it. And you’re gonna do great.”

Jacen reached for the controls, but Hera lifted one hand off of them to gently push his arm down, chuckling.

“Not yet, kiddo, just wait until we’re out in space. Just a few more moments.”

They were soon in the black of space. Now that she didn’t spend a lot of her time there battling, she got to take in how peaceful it was- the black void surrounded by twinkling stars, Yavin IV seeming to glow below them.

Hera let off the thrusters, and Jacen reached forward and grabbed the steering, yanking on it and spinning it quickly, taking them upside down. Hera laughed, holding her arms tight around Jacen’s waist, her lekku hanging towards the viewport of the cockpit. Jacen shrieked and pulled his hands away from the controls.

“Mommy!”

“You can fix it, dear. Spin it again.”

Jacen slowly reached forward with one hand, and tugged on the steering again. They were a little crooked, but mostly right-side up.

“Ask Chopper to kick in the stabilizers,” she whispered.

“Chopper,” Jacen said. “Do the- the stab… stay… stay-bull…”

Chopper got the message, and fixed the ship so that they were perfectly level again. Hera could see Jacen beaming in the reflection of one of the screens.

“Do you want to start the thrusters?”

“Mmhmm.”

Hera gently pushed them so the ship was going forward slowly, and she pulled her hands from being wrapped around Jacen to gently settle both of his hands on the steering controls.

“You don’t want to pull on them hard like you did earlier,” she said. “Unless you want to go upside down again. Just gently steer us around, like this.”

Her hands still on Jacen’s, she gently rocked them back and forth, guiding the ship in a wavy line. She pulled her hands away slowly, and Jacen continued the motion, the ship going slowly in the directions Jacen was taking them.

“Now,” Hera said, feeling her heart swelling with pride. “Try turning us around, so we go the other way. Pull on one side- but not as hard, and-”

She stopped as Jacen already had them turning around, and smiled proudly.

“Good job, sweetheart! Chopper, isn’t he doing a good job?”

Chopper whistled gleefully, and Jacen smiled and leaned his head back to look up at Hera

“Can we go faster?”

“Of course!”

She pushed the thrusters so they’d go a little faster, and Jacen giggled as he cut the X-Wing through the black of space. Hera kissed the top of his head.

“I’m so proud of you, Jacen. Look at how good you’re doing!”

Jacen giggled again, and Hera let her arms rest around his waist, squeezing him tight and keeping proud tears from leaking from her eyes as she imagined co-piloting the  _ Ghost _ someday with her son.

* * *

“We’re home!” Hera called as she came through the door, Jacen and Chopper pushing past her, both of them laughing. Kanan came from the kitchen, smiling. Jacen ran at him, and he scooped him up into his arms. Kanan kissed his temple quickly.

“How’d you like flying with your mommy?”

“It was awesome!” Jacen said, earning chuckles from both of his parents. “We went upside down.”

“Did you?”

“Mmhmm!”

“He did a great job,” Hera said, approaching them, resting a hand on Jacen’s back. “He was flying all over.”

Kanan smiled. “I’m proud of you, kid. But it’s getting late, how about you get ready for bed while I finish dinner?”

“Okay!”

Jacen wriggled from Kanan’s arms while Kanan was trying to set him down, both of them laughing. Jacen bolted to go to his room.

“Careful up the stairs!” Hera called, and then she sighed. “That kid.”

Kanan took her hand with a warm smile. “He’ll be alright. How did you like it today?”

“It was amazing, Kanan. He’s going to be a great pilot.”

“Just like his mother.”

“Even better.”

She kissed him gently, reaching a hand around to feel for his ponytail, but didn’t feel it. She pulled away, cupping his face in her hands and turning his head gently. Instead of the usual low ponytail that hung down his back, his hair was pulled into a messy, higher bun on the back of his head.

“What’s this?” Hera asked with a smirk, gently playing with it a little bit, probably messing it up further. 

“Oh,” Kanan said. “I just… thought I’d try something new.”

“About time.”

“What?”

Hera chuckled and pulled her hand away from the bun, letting both of her hands rest on his shoulders. “I like it, love. I like the ponytail too, but… this is good.”

Kanan ducked his head sheepishly, smiling. “Thanks.”

“So what’s for dinner? It smells delicious.”

“Fried tip-yip?”

“Oh, Jacen is going to love it.”

“I know, that’s what I thought,” Kanan said, going into the kitchen. Hera followed him.

“Anything I can help with?”

“I don’t think so,” Kanan said.

“I’ll set the table, then,” she said, taking some plates and utensils from the cabinets. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Hera smiled gratefully as she put plates in front of three of the chairs, and she heard light thumping coming from the stairs, just a few moments before Jacen came running into the kitchen.

“Careful with the stove,” Hera heard Kanan warn him.

Hera couldn’t resist her smile at the softness of his voice as he said it, and she didn’t really try to.


	14. Sleepover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghost Crew comes to Kanan and Hera's house to spend the night,

“Mmmph.”

Hera turned over with a quiet groan, not quite ready to open her eyes yet. She knew she probably should be up, but she didn’t really have it in her to get out of bed. It wasn’t her fault Kanan had kept her up so late.

Well, maybe it partially was. But it was his fault too.

She stretched her arms a little bit, just to scoot over to Kanan and wrap her arms around him, pressing herself up against his back.

“Mmmph,” Kanan acknowledged her with, and Hera just nuzzled her face against his neck, feeling his hair brush against her.

“‘Morning,” she mumbled.

“‘Morning.”

“We have to make sure the house is clean before everyone comes over.”

Kanan yawned. “I don’t want to get up.”

“Me neither,” Hera said, chuckling quietly and pressing a kiss against his skin. She heard some rustling of the sheets and felt some movement, and opened her eyes to see Kanan turning over to face her. He smiled at her.

“When are they supposed to get here?”

“Zeb is picking Ezra up on the way, and they’ll be here in…” Hera paused to look at the chrono on her nightstand. “A few hours. Then Sabine will be here an hour after that.”

“It’s just those three?”

“As far as I know.”

“So we don’t  _ have _ to clean the house if it’s just them.”

Hera lightly smacked his chest, and he laughed quietly. She yawned, and closed her eyes again, trying to avoid the urge to fall back asleep.

“I wish Chopper would clean.”

“Not sure how well that would-”

Kanan stopped, and Hera opened her eyes to find him with a confused frown.

“What, love?”

“Jacen is coming.”

The door to their bedroom burst open, and Hera barely saw the blur of her son running and jumping onto their bed, giggling as he buried himself between them. Hera laughed and wrapped her arms around him, and Kanan did the same with both of them.

“Good morning, Jacen,” Hera said.

“Good morning! I’m hungry!”

Kanan ruffled Jacen’s already messy hair. “Sorry, kiddo, Mommy and I were just tired this morning. I’ll go make us something.”

“Eggs and nuna bacon please, dear,” Hera requested, and Kanan smiled and kissed her cheek.

“Sure thing,” Kanan said. He turned to Jacen. “How’s that sound?”

“Good!”

Kanan smiled and pulled himself out of bed, throwing a shirt on from the drawers.

“I’ll call you when it’s ready. Jacen, why don’t you help your Mommy with cleaning today, since the family is coming over?”

Kanan went out the door, and Jacen looked to Hera. She tapped her finger on his nose, and he laughed.

“Are all your toys picked up?”

Jacen looked down guiltily. “No…”

Hera smoothed his hair affectionately. “Hey- if you clean your room today before Uncle Zeb and Ezra get here, I’ll give you… ten credits.”

Jacen frowned and paused, as if pondering the deal like one of the characters from a cartoon he liked about pirates. “Five.”

Hera chuckled. “That’s less, sweetheart. I’m  _ giving _ you ten credits.”

“Okay!”

Jacen tried to jump off the bed to run towards his room, but Hera quickly grabbed him from the air and pulled him to her chest first.

“You’ve got to have something to eat first. Then you can start cleaning. Let’s go downstairs and have breakfast with Daddy.”

Jacen nodded and hugged Hera.

“Thank you, Mommy!”

“You’re welcome,” she said, squeezing him back tightly.

* * *

Hera wiped her hands on the towel and tossed it into the laundry bin before promptly sighing in relief.

“I think we did it, love.”

She heard Kanan’s soothing laugh. “I think so. That was our most intense mission yet, General.”

“You think so?”

“Mmhmm. Even worse than that time we went grocery shopping and you dropped all of our bags on the way out.”

She rolled her eyes and affectionately swatted his arm.

“I’ll go see how Jacen is doing with his room. You have the sandwiches ready?”

“Of course. Half for Zeb, and half for the rest of us.”

Hera laughed and went up the stairs, going around to peer into Jacen’s room. She beamed- his room was totally clean.

“Jacen,” she said. “Good job!”

“Noooo!” he exclaimed, running to the door. “It’s not done!”

Hera blinked in surprise as the door shut in front of her, and frowned. Before she could knock on the door to ask Jacen if he wanted her help, he opened it again, smiling up at her.

“All done!”

“Is it now? You just said it wasn’t.”

“I had to put him away,” Jacen explained, pointing to a purple tooka doll sitting in the little bin where he kept many of his stuffed animals. Hera nodded in understanding.

“I see. Well, it looks to me like you’ve earned your ten credits.”

She reached in her pocket, and counted ten in her hands before crouching down to be eye-to-eye with Jacen.

“Where do we keep our money?”

“In a safe place,” Jacen answered, almost like it was rehearsed (and admittedly, it sort of was).

Hera smiled and held out her hand for Jacen to take the credits. He smiled gratefully and ran to the box he kept under his bed to stash it away- he said he was saving up for something, but he had yet to tell anyone what. When he put the box back, he ran to hug Hera’s legs tightly.

“Thank you!”

She scratched the top of his head- species with hair seemed to like that. “Of course.”

“Hey,” Kanan’s voice called from the bottom of the stairs. “Zeb and Ezra are here!”

“Uncle Zeb!” Jacen shouted, and he pushed past Hera, who laughed as she slowly went out towards the stairs.

“Careful down the stairs,” she said as he ran down, pushing past Kanan to run to the front door to greet Zeb. Hera got down the stairs, meeting Kanan with a sigh.

“Still trying with the stairs?”

“I’ve got to say  _ something _ ,” she said. Kanan kissed her quickly before they went back towards the front of the house to see Zeb and Ezra. Zeb was holding Jacen up in the air, laughing and shaking him a little bit. Hera smiled and went over to Ezra so she could hug him tightly.

“How’s life on Lothal now?” Hera asked when she pulled away from the hug, putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Amazing,” Ezra said, grinning at her.

“And how’s Jai?”

Ezra pursed his lips anxiously. “Good.”

Hera poked his cheek. “How good?”

“Hera.”

She laughed. “Alright.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zeb put Jacen down.

“You’re getting too big, kid,” he said with fake strain in his voice.

“No!” Jacen protested. Hera laughed and turned to Zeb, opening her arms so he could pull her in a tight hug.

“It’s good to see you,” Hera said.

“You too. How’s it going with Kanan around again?”

Hera paused, trying to find a word to describe exactly how happy it made her, but she didn’t think such a word existed. Not in any language she knew, anyway. “It’s incredible,” she finally said, and she felt Zeb squeeze her quickly before letting go.

“I’m glad,” he said, smiling at her. 

“How’s Kallus doing?”

Zeb smile turned a little sheepish. “He’s good.”

Kanan came up from behind Hera, bumping into her a little bit but steadying himself by putting a hand on her arm.

“I made some sandwiches for us, they’re on the counter.”

“Good, I’m  _ starving _ ,” Ezra said, going straight to the platter. Hera laughed as Kanan and Jacen both followed suit.

“When is Sabine getting here?” Zeb asked.

“Supposed to be in about an hour from now. A little less, actually.”

“Good,” Zeb said, before going to get himself something to eat.

* * *

“You make the best sandwiches,” Sabine said, resting her head on Kanan’s shoulder. Kanan chuckled and put his arm over her shoulders, pulling her close.

“You’ve been pretty cuddly since I got back, Sabine.”

“Well, you died, so I think you’ve earned it.”

Kanan heard Hera laugh, and felt her sit beside him, having just made some snacks for Jacen. He used his free arm to reach over to her lap and try to find her hand, and when he felt her take his, he squeezed quickly. Everyone was being pretty quiet, with the holo Jacen had picked out playing. Kanan, Sabine and Hera were sitting on so pillows and blankets they’d laid out on the floor, their backs leaning against the couch, while Zeb and Ezra were both on the couch behind them. Kanan wasn’t entirely sure what was going on in it, trying to figure it out from the dialogue (something about pirates, maybe).

Kanan felt Jacen plop down, squeezing in between his parents. Kanan let out a quiet snort and pulled his hand from Hera’s so he could put an arm around both Hera and Jacen. Immediately, he could hear Jacen crunching on the popcorn.

“I love you, kiddo,” Kanan whispered to him. 

Jacen was chewing, so he didn’t answer, but he soon felt a small hand pushing against his lips with some popcorn. Kanan snorted quietly and opened up his mouth to take some of the popcorn. He heard Hera laugh next to him.

“Hey,” Zeb said from the couch. “Let me have some of that, kid.”

Jacen giggled and stood up, and Kanan felt the couch depress a little bit behind him as he presumably climbed up onto the couch to sit with Zeb and Ezra so they could share the popcorn. Kanan took the opportunity to pull Hera closer against him, which she hummed appreciatively for and then rested her head on his shoulder. Kanan smiled, both of his shoulders being used as headrests (not that he minded).

It wasn’t long into the movie that he could hear Zeb and Hera snoring, and he was pretty sure the kids were all asleep too.

Though, he supposed, Sabine and Ezra weren’t kids anymore.

He reached out with the Force towards the holoprojector to turn it off, careful not to move and disturb the two leaning on his shoulders. He leaned his head back against the couch to let himself fall asleep too.

* * *

Hera arched her back and groaned as she woke up, stretching her arms. She reached one hand to the back of her neck to massage it gently- as much as she loved leaning on Kanan, it was  _ not _ comfortable for her neck. She scooted forward tentatively, careful to slowly lower Kanan’s arm from its place over her shoulders- all of the snores she was hearing reminded her to be quiet. She stood up, flexing her shoulders and rubbing her neck again, cracking it and then turning around to look at her family.

She smiled- Kanan and Sabine were resting against each other as they slept (though it looked as though the pillows they were on had slid from underneath them), and Jacen was curled up in between Zeb and Ezra on the couch, a mostly empty popcorn bowl sitting just behind Kanan’s head.

Hera quietly snuck to the cabinet where she kept an old cam, and then went back to take a holograph of the picture. She took one, and looked at it on the tiny screen, smiling to herself and letting out a happy, grateful sigh.


	15. Father-In-Law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cham Syndulla comes over for dinner.

“Hera-”

“I told you, dear, you look fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Is my hair alright?”

He felt Hera’s hands cup his cheeks, scratching at his beard gently with her fingers, and he could feel his cheeks warm from the affection. 

“You look good, okay? Besides, my dad really doesn’t care what your hair looks like.”

“This works?”

“Yes!”

Kanan smiled as she pulled his face down for a kiss. He had pulled his hair up into a neat bun (with Hera’s help to make sure it wasn’t crooked) for the occasion. He hadn’t talked to Cham Syndulla in years, and he found he was just as nervous as he was the first time.

Well, maybe not  _ that _ nervous. That had been a disaster. 

The doorbell rang, and Hera ran her hands down Kanan’s arm, stopping at his hands. He squeezed her hands and smiled at her.

“You ready?”

“I think so.”

She pulled away from him and he heard her footsteps go out the door, and he followed her. Kanan had a pretty good grasp now of the house, and didn’t even have to keep a hand on the wall as he went down the hall to go down the stairs. He followed Hera’s presence to the door, and he heard it open.

“Dad!” Hera said.

“Hera!”

They hugged (he was pretty sure, at least), and a moment later Kanan felt himself pulled by Cham Syndulla into a tight hug. Kanan returned it, taking a deep breath.

“Welcome back,” Cham said. “My daughter missed you.”

“I know.”

Cham pulled away, and clapped a hand on Kanan’s shoulder. He heard Hera beside them.

“Dad, sit down. Love, dinner is almost ready, right?”

“Should be just a few more minutes in the oven. Could you check the timer?”

“Mmhmm. Go tell Jacen to come down. Dad, come sit, seriously. I’ll take your jacket.”

Kanan went back towards the stairs, hearing Hera bicker with her dad as he wouldn’t let her do simple things for him, and he chuckled quietly. If only Hera realized how similar she was to her father.

“Jacen,” he called from the bottom of the stairs. “Grandpa’s here!”

He heard a door open, and then the quick patter of feet, first on the floor above and then thumping down the stairs. He felt Jacen brush past him, and heard him run into the dining room.

“There’s my little womp rat!” Cham exclaimed.

He could hear Jacen’s giggles, and then a beeping from their direction. He went towards the kitchen, and when he got there, he heard Hera setting the pan on top of the stove before closing the oven door.

“I’ll make the plates, love, can you get utensils for everybody?”

“You’ll make the plates?” Kanan asked.

“Yes, that’s the easy part. You know where the forks are?”

Kanan nodded, and then went to the far wall. He dragged his hand along the drawers and counted, opening the third drawer, and feeling for the forks. He counted four, and, then did the same for the table knives, but only taking three. He took them to the table, giving one of each to Cham, and just a fork to Jacen, before setting the rest down for Hera and himself. He felt Hera nudge him.

“Here’s Jacen’s, I already cut it up for him.”

Kanan took the plate, and set it in front of Jacen.

“What is it?” Jacen asked. Kanan couldn’t see it, but he could tell Jacen was frowning as he examined it.

“Braised Shaak Roast,” Kanan answered. “You’ll love it, just give it a try. Please?”

“Extra dessert if you do, Jacen,” Hera said from behind him.

Kanan heard a fork scraping against a plate, and then Cham’s laughter.

“That got him!” Cham said. Kanan smiled, and took another plate from Hera and passed it to him. A few moments later, he took two plates, and set them down in front of where he and Hera would sit. 

He heard Hera open the cabinet and set four glasses down before opening the fridge, and he put a hand on her shoulder.

“Sit,” he said. “I’ll get drinks. Cham, what do you want?”

“Just water.”

He heard Hera scoot her chair in. “You know, Dad, I just bought a ton of meiloorun juice.”

There was a long pause, and Kanan hesitated to get a glass of water without confirmation from Cham.

“Well, if you meiloorun juice,” Cham said. “I guess I’ll take that.”

Hera laughed quietly. “Meiloorun juice for me too, if you don’t mind, love.”

Kanan reached into the fridge to find the right shape container, then poured two glasses of meiloorun juice, and gave them to Hera. He poured another glass for himself too, and set it on the counter.

“Jacen?”

Jacen said something he couldn’t make out, though he could make out Hera chiding him about talking with his mouth full. Just a few seconds later, he heard Jacen’s voice more clearly.

“Milk, please.”

Kanan found a container of milk, and traced over the raised lettering on the container to make sure before pouring a glass for Jacen. He returned it and closed the fridge before taking both his and Jacen’s glasses to the table, finally sitting down.

“Thank you,” Cham said. “This is delicious, you’ll have to give me the recipe.”

Kanan smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

He made a mental note to have Chopper get a written version of the recipe for later. Since Malachor, his cooking abilities relied on having someone (often Chopper, oddly enough) reading the recipe and keeping an eye on him to make sure he was doing things correctly. It was frustrating not being able to totally surprise his family with a meal, but it was part of his life now. 

He always supposed he should just be grateful that he’d found a way to cook at all. Cooking for Hera had been one of the first ways he’d been able to show his love for her, and he wasn’t going to let anything stop him from continuing that. 

Dinner went well, and Kanan offered to gather everyone’s plates. Hera commended Jacen on eating so much of the roast (“we told you you’d like it, sweetheart”) and took some chocolate from the cabinet he couldn’t reach yet and gave it to him. 

They still sat around the table for a while after dinner, talking, Cham checking with Kanan on how much of what he’d missed from the war he knew about (and taking more than a few chances to brag about how incredible Hera was while both raising a baby and fighting a war, which only Hera seemed to mind). Jacen seemed to get bored as Kanan was asking Cham questions about his retirement, and was allowed by Hera to go upstairs and play, as long as he was in bed by bedtime, and Chopper would be checking, so don’t try anything.

As it got later into the night, Cham eventually had to leave, though Hera protested and offered to let him stay the night, he was just as stubborn as she was, and left. He took his jacket, exchanged hugs with Kanan and Hera, and then went up to Jacen’s room to say goodnight. As he was upstairs, Kanan took the chance to kiss Hera.

“Have a good time?”

“Of course. You’ll have to make that Shaak roast again.”

Kanan smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

Cham came down a moment later, said his last goodbyes and stepped outside. He heard Hera sigh, and put an arm around her shoulders.

“I think it’s our bedtime, too.”

Hera yawned as an answer, and Kanan laughed as they went to their room together.


	16. Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera has to leave for mission to Atoa, and Kanan, Jacen and Chopper will get a few days to themselves.

Kanan felt Hera’s soft jacket, and frowned.

“This isn’t warm enough.”

“What? Of course it is,” Hera said. He felt her tug on the jacket.

“It should be thicker. Do you have another one to wear over it? You can borrow mine.”

Hera’s hands cupped his face. “You worry too much, love. I’ll be fine. We’re just dropping supplies off, I won’t be there long.”

“Atoa is  _ freezing _ , you need another jacket.”

Hera pulled his face down to kiss him, and then she pulled away. He couldn’t see it of course, but Kanan got the feeling she was smiling. “Kanan, it’s okay. Seriously.”

He nodded hesitantly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Hera said, chuckling. “You’re cute when you’re worried.”

Kanan smiled, feeling a flutter in his chest. “I’m cute?”

“Mmhmm. I’ll go say goodbye to Jacen, but then I really have to get going.”

“Okay. Are you bringing Chopper?”

“I don’t think so. We don’t need him, and the cold could freeze up his servos.”

Hera went up the stairs, and Kanan rapped a few times on the counter before filling a tall mug with some Spiran caf and snapping the lid on it. He heard Hera come down the stairs, followed by Jacen’s lighter footsteps, and Chopper wheeling down the droid ramp. Kanan smiled and when Hera came closer, he held the caf out in her direction. She took it and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll miss you, dear.”

“I’ll miss you more,” Kanan said.

Jacen tugged on both of their shirts. “I’ll miss you most!”

Hera laughed. “I know you will, sweetheart.”

He heard her press a kiss to him, and then Chopper warbled affectionately.

“I won’t be gone long,” Hera said. “Besides, you all can enjoy some time to yourselves for a little bit. Won’t it be fun, Jacen? Just you, Daddy and Chopper?”

“Mmph,” Jacen said indignantly, and Hera snorted quietly.

“We’ll go to the park tomorrow,” Kanan offered. “And I’ll make whatever you want for dinner tonight.”

“Ice cream?”

Kanan and Hera both laughed.

“Not for dinner,” Kanan said. “But we’ll have plenty for dessert, how about that?”

Jacen thought for a second. “Okay,” he finally said.

They held onto silence for a few moments, before finally Hera broke it.

“I really have to go. Bye, I’ll miss you all. Have fun while I’m gone, okay?”

“We will,” Jacen said. “I love you Mommy!”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Love you, Kanan.”

“Love you too. Be safe.”

Hera chuckled and stepped out, though Chopper made an indignant sound. She snorted. “Sorry, Chop. I love you. Goodbye!”

Chopper responded with a warble of his own, and Kanan waved goodbye as the door opened, and he could hear a quiet creak from Chopper’s mechanical arm as he did the same, and Kanan assumed Jacen also waved. The door shut, and Kanan lowered his hand. He felt Jacen tug on his shirt, the way he did when he wanted picked up. Kanan did so, and carried him to the living room, careful to feel for where the couch was with his foot before sitting down, with Jacen in his lap.

“I don’t like it when Mommy goes away,” Jacen said. Kanan gave him a comforting smile.

“Me neither, kiddo. But that’s how she takes care of us. And she’s helping people, that’s important.”

“I want to go with her.”

“When you’re older, I’m sure she’ll let you. Besides, she’ll be back before you know it,” Kanan said, pressing a kiss against Jacen’s head, into his soft hair. “But, it’ll be fun to have some time just for us for a little while, right?”

Jacen giggled. “Yeah…”

“What do you want to do first? We could play that hologame Rex got you.”

Jacen jumped from his lap eagerly. “Okay!”

Kanan laughed as Jacen ran to get his game. Kanan was no good at hologames. He could still play dejarik if someone was there to tell him what was happening on the board (though Hera was always able to beat him, even before Malachor), but the games that Jacen had were near-impossible to play without being able to see.

Not that he minded. Jacen’s gleeful laughter as he beat him made him want to lose, quite honestly.

And he was looking forward to enjoying that laughter a  _ lot _ over the next few days.


	17. Park & Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan takes Jacen to the park while Hera is on her mission, and Kanan tries to have a little surprise for her when she gets home.

Kanan knelt below Jacen, who was sitting on the couch. He felt over the top of Jacen’s shoe for the laces, and let his fingers slowly twist and loop them until they were tied in a neat knot on top of the shoe. He tried to explain what he was doing step-by-step to his son as he did it, but it was hard without being able to see. He tugged to make sure it was tight enough, and moved to repeat the same motion on the other shoe. Kanan smiled up at Jacen.

“Ready?”

“Yeah! Can Chopper come?”

Kanan chuckled, and kissed Jacen’s face before standing up all the way.

“Of course Chopper is coming. Go ask him if he’s ready.”

Jacen ran into the living room, his shoes making small thumps as he quickly went after Chopper.

“Chopper?” Jacen asked loudly. “Ready to go to the park?”

Chopper warbled affirmatively, and Kanan heard his wheels rolling to accompany Jacen’s footsteps. Kanan tugged on a light jacket, and then grabbed one of Jacen’s jackets, and offered it to him when he got close enough. He heard the gentle rustling of fabric as Jacen put it on and smiled at him, before reaching down to take his hand, squeezing it quickly. Jacen squeezed back.

“I love you, kid,” Kanan said.

“I love you too!”

Kanan opened the door, asking Chopper to make sure it was locked before they stepped outside, into Yavin IV’s cool breeze. The park was a bit of a walk from their home, but Kanan didn’t mind. Chopper mostly guided them, making sure they were going the right way.

“What’s the park like, Jacen?” Kanan asked.

“They have swings,” Jacen said. “And a slide. And a climb wall.”

“Sounds like a fun place.”

“Mmhmm,” Jacen chirped. “They have benches too, for the grown-ups.”

“What, grown-ups aren’t allowed to play?”

“You’re too big!” Jacen exclaimed, laughing. 

“We’ll see about that.”

Another turn and a few more blocks, and Chopper chirped to Kanan that they’d arrived. He let Jacen let go of his hand a few moments later, and Jacen ran to presumably go play on the playground equipment. Chopper guided Kanan to sit down on one of the benches under a tree, and Kanan took the opportunity to meditate. He closed his eyes (not that that affected much), leaned back, and took a deep breath to connect to the nature around him.

He hadn’t used the Force much, mostly for mundane things like helping a little bit with cooking. He didn’t want Jacen to be a Jedi (though if he wanted to pursue that path, he wouldn’t stop him), and was afraid of exposing him too much to the Force. He could tell that Jacen was strong with it, and that worried him. He did want to teach Jacen control, one of the better things he’d learn from Jedi teachings. Maybe he’d meditate with Jacen sometime, or teach him simple things, and how to handle the power.

He was pulled from his thoughts and sat up when he heard Jacen’s voice.

“My name is Jacen,” he said.

A small voice introduced themselves to him- it sounded like a little girl, who sounded quite a bit younger than Jacen, but it was hard to say. Jacen asked if she wanted to play with him, and she agreed, and he heard some giggles and exclamations. Kanan smiled, though he was soon startled slightly by the bench creaking as more weight was added by the other end- someone sat next to him.

“Looks like our kids are playing together,” a deep voice said. “So I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Jarek.”

Kanan straightened up a little bit, and extended a hand to the direction of Jarek’s voice. “Kanan. Nice to meet you.”

Jarek took his hand, and gave it a firm shake. “You’re, uh, General Syndulla’s husband, aren’t you?”

Kanan chuckled. “We aren’t married,” he said, hesitating to add a “yet” to that. “But yeah, that’s the idea.”

Jarek paused for a moment. “Well, General Syndulla is a great woman. I flew with her a couple of times.”

Kanan raised his eyebrows. “You were a pilot in the war?”

“Yeah. Joined a bit later, though, after the first Death Star went out. I’m just visiting some friends,” Jarek said, chuckling. “I’m one of the only ones in my squadron that didn’t move here.”

Kanan nodded. “Well, it sounds like the kids are getting along, so you’re always welcome to visit us too.”

Jarek laughed. “That’s good to know. Is General Syndulla still flying?”

“Yeah. She’s actually on Atoa now, doing a supply drop-off for the New Republic. How about you?”

“I race. My family lives on Batuu, we get a lot of racing done there, and sometimes I travel.”

“Are you any good?”

Kanan said it quickly, and didn’t mean to phrase it quite like that, but Jarek didn’t seem to mind, just laughing it off. “Yeah, I think so.”

There was a long pause, while they heard the kids playing. Jacen seemed to be trying to take care of the little girl from the sound of it, which warmed Kanan’s heart.

“You’ve got a good kid,” Jarek said. Kanan smiled proudly.

“Thanks. You do too, she sounds sweet. How old is she?”

“Almost two,” Jarek answered. “How old is yours?”

“Five.”

“He’s good with kids younger than him,” Jarek said. “He’ll be a good big brother, if- if that’s something you guys want.”

Kanan chuckled. “We’ll see.”

He and Jarek talked for a while on that bench, mostly about their children and families, and Jarek compared his droid to Chopper. When his daughter came over and told Jarek she was hungry, he laughed and picked her up, telling her they’d go get lunch at a friend’s house, and exchanging comm info with Kanan before wishing him goodbye.

“Whenever you and General Syndulla do get married,” Jarek said. “Make sure we get an invite.”

Kanan laughed and promised him one, waving goodbye. In just a few moments, Jacen ran over, panting slightly. Kanan smiled at him. “Hey, kid. You have fun with your new friend? She seemed nice.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Her daddy was pretty nice, maybe we’ll set up a playdate for you with her. And Poe could be there too, all three of you.”

“That would be awesome!” Jacen exclaimed, and Kanan laughed.

“Well, are you hungry? We could go home and have something to eat.”

There was silence, for a few moments, and Kanan frowned.

“Jacen, I can’t see when you nod, remember?”

“Oh,” Jacen said. “Sorry, daddy.”

“It’s okay. But are you ready to go home and eat?”

“Yes,” Jacen said. Kanan smiled and took his hand, and had Chopper lead the way back home.

* * *

Kanan slowly dragged the razor over his face. He trusted himself on his jawline, but he knew he’d need some help when he got to his chin. He made sure he kept himself leaned over the sink so his hair, clumped with the shaving cream, would fall into the sink. Once he got both sides shaved enough, he moved his hand over his face, feeling smooth, soft skin across his cheeks and jaw and then felt the hair on his chin, covered in the shaving cream.

“Chopper, a little help?”

Chopper wheeled in, and Kanan turned around. Chopper made an alarmed sound, and Kanan put up his hand that wasn’t holding the razor to motion for him to calm down.

“Relax, Chopper. I’m just going to wear the goatee again to surprise Hera when she gets home. I’ll probably grow the beard back again.”

He was definitely going to grow the beard back again. Maintaining a neat trim of hair on his chin was way too much work while he was blind.

“Can you just help me-”

Kanan froze. He felt something. He felt the familiar, soothing feeling of Hera’s presence.

She was home.

He heard the door opening downstairs, and Jacen excitedly yell for her, and her laughing while they probably hugged, and Kanan almost forgot about his partially shaved face.

The face that probably looked ridiculous.

Kanan knelt down to Chopper’s level. “Chopper, I’m trusting you,” Kanan said, hardly believing what he was saying. “Can you clean this up? Do you remember the way I used to have it”

“Kanan?” Hera asked. Kanan could hear her footsteps coming closer up the stairs.

Chopper made warbling sounds that sounded like laughter, and rolled out of the bathroom to tell Hera exactly where Kanan was.

“Chopper!” Kanan groaned indignantly, face burning with embarrassment as he felt Hera come closer. He knew he had no reason to be embarrassed with her- he was embarrassed with himself, not being able to complete a surprise for her.

“You’re home early,” he said.

“Yeah,” Hera said, clearly not trying to hide her amusement. “We decided last minute to decide to try a new route home, saved us a few hours. What’s going on in here?”

“I, uh,” Kanan said nervously, setting the razor down on the sink and rubbing a hand against the back of his neck, underneath his ponytail. “I thought I’d do my beard the way I used to, just as… as a surprise for you. But  _ someone _ didn’t help me clean it up, and I can’t really do it by myself. Not well, anyway.”

He heard Hera chuckle quietly and step forward. “Here, love, let me.”

He felt the razor brush his skin, and his face started to get hot again. Hera carefully trimmed the hair around his chin, and then he heard the razor set down on the sink again. The faucet turned on, and then a warm washcloth rubbed over his chin, cleaning the shaving cream off of it. He was handed a glove, and then felt familiar fingers, not quite calloused enough that they lost all of their softness, brush against his chin, looking at the hair there. The fingers moved over to the soft, newly bared skin over his jaw, and another hand- this one still gloved, cupped the other side of his face.

He kissed her, and Jarek’s words from yesterday about a wedding rang in his mind. Kanan put the glove he was holding on the counter, and wrapped his arms around her waist. Hera pulled away from the kiss first, and rested her head against his chest.

“It looks good,” she said. “Though, the beard is… very nice.”

“And easier to take care of,” Kanan said. “I think I’ll let it come back.”

There was a long pause, and Kanan kissed the top of her head, being greeted with the texture of her flightcap. With just his goatee back, it felt like he was back on Atollon, holding her in front of the sunset.

The last time he got to see her.

“I missed you,” Kanan said.

“I missed you too,” Hera replied. “Though compared to before, I can handle a few days.”

Kanan snorted and tightened the hug. “How cold was Atoa?”

“It was  _ freezing _ .”

“I told you you should’ve brought another jacket.”

Hera pulled away from him, laughing. “I was fine.”

“Whatever you say.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware that Yeager's daughter probably wasn't born at this point in time, but technically there wasn't a clear timeline for when she was born so who's to say she wasn't?
> 
> Lucasfilm, probably. But they haven't said anything yet, so it's alright!


	18. Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Kanan and Hera's fifteenth anniversary of being together.

Hera was up a little earlier than usual, though she just used the extra time to sit on the couch downstairs and read, enjoying the quiet before the rest of her family got up. She wasn’t sure how long she had been reading (long enough to get through a large chunk of her book) when Kanan came downstairs, sitting next to her, and putting his arm around her shoulders to pull her close, pressing a firm kiss to her temple while she read.

“Happy anniversary,” he said. Hera smiled.

“You remembered.”

“Of course I did.”

They considered their first date on the moons of Rion to be their anniversary. Technically, they were already kind of together before that, but that date was an easy one to remember, not to mention a more “official” one.

Hera leaned her head on his shoulder and hummed appreciatively. “Any plans today?”

“I was thinking a picnic in the park,” Kanan said. “How’s that sound?”

“That sounds nice. What are we eating?”

“Ronto wraps.”

Hera could already feel her mouth watering at the idea- she hadn’t eaten any breakfast yet. 

“You know the way to my heart, love.”

Kanan laughed. “Is there someone to watch Jacen?”

“I’ll call Rex,” Hera said. “He’s been asking me a lot lately about when he’ll get to babysit again, he doesn’t get to do it as much with you around.” Hera kissed Kanan’s cheek through his newly grown back beard and set her datapad down, going to get her comm. She commed for Rex.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Rex. How’s it going?”

“Good. Got nothing to do today, though. When do I get to watch the kid again?”

Hera chuckled. “Well, you could do it today, if you want.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. Kanan and I are going out for lunch for our anniversary.”

“Aw,” Rex said. “Happy anniversary. I can be over at your place soon.”

“You’re too kind, Rex.”

“I love that kid,” Rex said. “I’ll babysit anytime.”

Hera smiled, even if Rex couldn’t see it. “I’ll see you soon, Rex.”

“See you soon.”

The comm clicked off, and Hera set it down, still smiling as she turned around to look for Kanan on the couch, but he wasn’t there. The sounds of some movement in the kitchen clued her in to where he was, and Hera walked towards the kitchen with a bounce in her step. Kanan made them a light breakfast, and Hera woke Jacen up.

“Jacen,” she said as he was finishing his food. “Today is Daddy and I’s anniversary, so we’re going to go out and have a picnic in the park to celebrate. Rex is going to come over and play with you while you’re gone, is that okay?”

Jacen beamed, and started to say something, but Hera put a hand up.

“Finish chewing, sweetheart.”

Jacen listened, swallowing before smiling. “Rex is coming?”

“Mmhmm. So make sure you get dressed, and that your room is picked up.”

“Okay!”

Jacen finished his food and went upstairs, and Hera took all of their plates to the sink, beginning to wash them.

“I’ll get started on the wraps and pack them up,” Kanan said.

“Sounds good,” Hera said as she continued with the dishes. “I’ll go get changed, after I’m done this.”

Kanan nodded. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

“I can’t thank you enough, Rex.”

“It’s no problem,” Rex said. “We always have fun, don’t we?”

Jacen laughed from his place at Rex’s side. “Always!”

Hera smiled, kneeling down to hug Jacen quickly. “Be good for Rex,” she whispered. Jacen nodded against her shoulder, and she gave him a tight squeeze before letting go and standing up. When she was up, Kanan had come to the door with them, holding the bag that carried their food and a blanket.

“Have fun, you two,” Rex said with a quiet chuckle. “And happy anniversary!”

“Thank you!” Hera smiled at him, taking the bag from Kanan so he could hug and kiss Jacen goodbye, and then she put a hand on his arm, waving and saying goodbye to Jacen, Rex and Chopper. The door shut, and Hera pressed quickly pecked him with a kiss.

“Happy anniversary, love,” she said. “You ready?”

“As always,” Kanan said with a smile. Hera let him hold her hand as she guided them down the park, holding the bag in her other hand. It didn’t take long to get there, and Hera found them a quiet, shaded area in the far corner, underneath a big tree.

“Here, this should be good,” Hera said. She took the blanket from the bag and handed the bag to Kanan while she laid it out. Kanan sat down slowly, feeling for the blanket with his hands so he could figure out where to sit as he did. Hera smoothed out the far corner and sat next to Kanan, helping him take the wraps from the bag, her stomach rumbling from the smell.

“Kanan,” she said slowly. “Do you have any idea how amazing you are?”

Kanan laughed, passing her the first ronto wrap, which she bit into almost as soon as it touched her hands.

“Happy anniversary,” he said.

Hera almost choked trying to swallow the massive bite she’d just taken. “Happy anniversary.”

Kanan laughed and started eating his own wrap, scooting a little closer to Hera as he did, so they were up against each other. They were mostly quiet as they ate- Kanan’s food seemed to have a silencing quality to it- but Hera finished first, and gently started to rub Kanan’s shoulder.

“I’m so lucky,” she said softly.

Kanan swallowed the last of his ronto wrap, crumpling the foil it had been wrapped in and setting it down. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Not the wraps- I mean, they were good, but… I meant you.”

Kanan smiled at her, moving a hand to rest on her thigh, sending a warm, pleasant but nervous feeling to the base of her spine- she still had to adjust to letting herself be so affectionate in public.

“That’s sweet,” Kanan said.

“I really mean it. I’m so lucky to have you, dear.”

Kanan kissed her, his hands moving up to cup her face gently as he did. Hera held onto the kiss, finally pulling away after a few more moments.

“I’m lucky to have you too. Luckier than you.”

“You think so?” Hera said, smirking.

“Mmhmm. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Kanan’s hand moved back to her thigh, and he gave it a firm squeeze. Hera laughed quietly as she moved a hand to rest over his, happy that she’d picked a spot in the far corner of the park, away from any prying eyes.

“So… is this our fifteenth anniversary, then?” Kanan asked. “Or do we have to subtract the years I wasn’t here?”

“No subtracting,” Hera said firmly. She always privately celebrated their anniversary when Kanan wasn’t around, at the very least with acknowledging it to herself, and at the most by going a little easier on herself, or even treating herself to something a little nicer than usual. “Fifteen years.”

Kanan snorted quietly. “It’s hard to believe.”

“I know,” Hera said. “Most people would’ve been married by ten.”

She only realized what she’d said after she said it.

“You think about… that?”

Kanan’s voice was gentle, and it almost sounded like he was in awe.

Hera swallowed thickly. “Lately, it’s… crossed my mind, every so often. Do you think about it?”

Kanan paused so long before answering, that Hera began to worry she’d said something wrong.

“I mean, you know me,” Kanan started, scratching his beard. “I’ve had… ideas, for almost as long as we’ve been together. Maybe a little longer than that,” he joked. “But during the war I figured we didn’t have time.”

“And now?”

Hera didn’t mean to, but her voice was almost a whisper.

“I guess it depends on what you want.”

Kanan’s voice was just as quiet. Hera gazed into his blind eyes.

“I…” she started. “I think it’s something I’d like to talk about more, sometime.”

Kanan smiled. “That works for me.”

* * *

Hera opened the door, Kanan following behind her. He took the bag to sit on the counter, and Rex walked to Hera.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Hey. Jacen behaved for you?”

“Why do you always ask that?”

Hera chuckled. “Just have to make sure. What did you guys do today?”

Rex’s smile widened a little bit. “Jacen and Chopper have been working on something for you two.”

Kanan came over from the kitchen. “What?”

“An anniversary present. They’re upstairs,” Rex said, motioning back towards the stairs. “Come on.”

Hera exchanged a confused look with Kanan (he still managed to instinctually do that with her, always to her delight) before following Rex up to Jacen’s room. The door was closed, though they could hear Jacen rambling to Chopper inside. Rex knocked.

“Hey kid, they’re home!”

There was a quick pattering of footsteps, and the door opened, Jacen beaming at them.

“Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!”

“Hi sweetheart,” Hera said. “Rex said you made a present for me and Daddy?”

Jacen nods eagerly, and reaches up to grab Hera’s hand in one hand, and Kanan’s in the other, pulling them over to Chopper.

“Chopper, get it!”

Chopper warbled something and turned around, extending a little claw arm to pick something up, and turning around quickly again. Hera smiled and gasped quietly to show her appreciation.

“What?” Kanan asked. “What is it?”

Hera gingerly took the present from Chopper, admiring it for a few moments and passing it to Kanan.

“They made us a little flower bouquet, out of flimsi,” Hera explained. “It’s got all the colors you could think of.”

“Do you like it?” Jacen asked. Hera knelt down to hug him, kissing the side of his head firmly.

“Of course, Jacen, I love it. Thank you so much.”

Hera waited for Kanan to say the same thing, but when he didn’t she pulled away from the hug with Jacen (after one quick squeeze) and looked up at Kanan.

“Kanan?”

“I need to test it out,” Kanan said, a sly smirk on his face. He knelt down besides Hera, and offered it to her.

“Miss Syndulla,” he said, a bit of a core worlds accent tinging his words. “Would you accept this token of my love?”

Jacen giggled, and Hera was pretty sure she heard Rex sigh. She couldn’t help but laugh too as she took the bouquet from him.

“Of course, sir.”

Kanan smiled at her, and Rex cleared his throat from behind them.

“Well, I think I’ll be heading out then, now.”

Hera smiled at him, standing up to hug him, still holding the paper bouquet.

“Thank you so much again, Rex. Seriously.”

“Anytime.”

Kanan also hugged him goodbye, and finally Jacen did too, thanking him for helping with the present. They went downstairs with him as he left, and when he did, Hera eyed an empty vase on the caf table in the living room.

“Jacen, what if we put these in there? Then everybody can see them when they come over.”

“Okay!” Jacen chirped. “Can I put them in?”

Hera smiled as she handed him the bouquet and watched him run over to the vase to gingerly put them away. Kanan put one arm around her waist.

“I think this might be our best anniversary yet.”

Hera chuckled. “I have to agree with you on that one, dear.”


	19. Meditating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan watches Poe for Shara while she's out with Hera.

Kanan heard Shara Bey whisper an order to behave before kissing her son, and presumably backing away as she said goodbye to all of them. He felt Hera wrap her arms around him for a brief hug, and after some more goodbyes, she left with Shara to go out for dinner, and Kanan was honestly quite excited to get to babysit the boys. The door shut, and Kanan turned towards the kids, smiling.

“So, what did you two have in mind for tonight?”

“I dunno,” Jacen said.

“I dunno,” Poe repeated. Kanan chuckled.

“Well… I’ll get started on making dinner, it’ll take a while. Poe, have you ever had fried tip-yip?”

There was a long pause, but finally Poe answered.

“No.”

“It’s good,” Kanan said. “Jacen loves it, and that’s what I’m making for dinner. Sound alright?”

“Yes!” Jacen and Poe both said in unison. Kanan smiled at them.

“Great! I’ll go to the kitchen. Jacen, do you want to take Poe up to your room to play? If either of you need anything, just come down and ask.”

Kanan just heard quiet whispers, giggles, and then the pair running up the stairs to go to Jacen’s room.

“Careful up the stairs!” Kanan called after them, and Chopper warbled that he was turning into Hera. Kanan shook his head and shushed him before going into the kitchen to get started on dinner, telling Chopper which recipe to guide him through.

Cutting things was a lot slower without his sight, as he had to carefully feel around between each slice, and went slow in order not to get his fingers caught under the blade. Whenever he pulled a new container out of the fridge, he’d ask Chopper for confirmation that it was the right ingredient.

If he wasn’t making dinner for Jacen, he’d be worried that Chopper lied to him about what something was, but he knew Chopper loved Jacen even more than he loved messing with him.

Kanan smelled the tip-yip as he started to cook it, his stomach growling already. Jacen and Poe shrieked in laughter from upstairs, and Kanan smiled, chuckling while stirring it over the stove. Whatever they were doing was definitely making them happy, he could feel that, and it warmed Kanan’s heart. Moments like these, where he could feel nothing but pure joy radiating from his family, confirmed for him that everything he did, and everything he lost, was worth it if his son and the other kids his age could have the childhood that he, and countless others, never did.

  
  


“Did you like dinner, Poe?”

“Yes! Thank you!” Poe said.

Kanan felt a pair of tiny arms wrap around one of his legs for a hug, and chuckled, reaching down to gently ruffle his hair.

Over dinner, he and Jacen had told Kanan all about the epic adventure they had in their game upstairs playing with all of Jacen’s ships, where they all teamed up to fight a giant space monster (which, after some prying, Kanan realized was Jacen’s big stuffed Wookiee). They told him the story with accompanying sound effects, and Kanan made sure to listen attentively, much to the joy of the kids.

“Any other big plans for the night?” Kanan asked. “Do we have to worry about another space monster attack?”

“No,” Jacen said, punctuating it with a yawn. “I’m tired.”

Poe yawned too, and Kanan smiled.

“Well, if you boys want, I could teach you how to meditate. Like a Jedi. It’s relaxing.”

Jacen and Poe paused to consider his idea, but then agreed. Kanan guided them to the living room, and pushed the caf table out of the way to sit cross-legged on the floor, and told Jacen and Poe to sit opposite of him and mirror.

“Close your eyes,” Kanan instructed. “Take a deep breath.”

He breathed slowly and audibly, and he heard the kids both did the same. Kanan couldn’t help but smile a little bit- it reminded him of when he first taught Ezra how to meditate, all those years ago.

“Clear your mind,” Kanan said. He was trying to remember his first meditation lessons with Master Yoda, from when he was very young. “And… and feel everything around you.”

He heard quiet pats as the boys both literally felt around themselves on the floor, and chuckled.

“Not with your hands, with… with your mind. With the Force.”

“I don’t know how to do that, Daddy,” Jacen said quietly.

Kanan chuckled again. “It’s hard to understand, I know. Just… relax yourself. Think about the quiet. And remember to breathe.”

A few moments passed, and Kanan focused more on meditating himself, rather than instructing the boys. He could feel both of their presences- they were warm, and rather comforting. Jacen’s was stronger in the Force, which Kanan expected, though he found himself hoping that he wouldn’t go down the path of a Jedi. Poe wasn’t weak, though. He may not have been Force sensitive, but even being so young, Kanan could tell that he was strong-willed. Maybe a little too strong-willed, but if he was going to be a pilot like his mother, that would probably be a good thing.

Though, now that he thought about Poe’s mother he could feel two more presences close by. Two presences that were also warm and comforting, as well as being strong-willed (again, maybe too strong-willed).

And one of those presences was more warm and comforting to Kanan than the other, and much more familiar too. Kanan’s face split into a grin.

“Jacen, Poe, I think the moms are home.”

He heard the front door open, and Jacen and Poe both ran to the front door. Kanan stood up, much slower than either of them did, and walked over to greet Hera and Shara.

“Mommy,” Jacen said. “Guess what?”

Hera laughed. “What?”

“Daddy was teaching us how to med… medicate!”

“How to  _ what _ ?” Hera and Shara both said.

Kanan’s eyes widened in alarm. “Medi- _ tate _ ! Meditate!”

“Ohhh,” Shara said, beginning to laugh, along with Hera. “Well, thank you for watching him, Kanan.”

“You’ve watched Jacen,” he said. “I’m happy to return the favor. And we had a good time, right boys?”

“Yeah!” Poe said, his voice bubbly.

Shara chuckled. “Well it’s getting late,” she said. “Almost past your bedtime, Poe. We should get going. Thank you so much, again, Kanan.”

“Anytime,” Kanan said with a smile and a wave.

Hera and Jacen both said their goodbyes to Shara and Poe, and when the door shut, he heard Hera tell Poe to go get ready for bed. Poe went upstairs, and Kanan felt a soft hand caress the side of his face, before moving to the back of his head and pulling him down for a kiss. Kanan kissed her back, resting his forehead against hers after she pulled away.

“Did you have fun out at dinner?”

“Of course I did. Did you have fun with the boys?”

Kanan smiled. “Of course I did.”

“Teaching them to medicate?”

“Medit- you know that,” Kanan chuckled, stepping back from her and shaking his head.

“Poe’s a good kid,” Hera said, with a quiet laugh of her own. I would watch him for Shara and Kes when they had something going on.”

“He is. I’m glad he and Poe are such good friends. It reminds me of… of some of my friends at the temple.”

Hera affectionately rubbed his arm, and he just lowered his head to kiss her, feeling her smile through it.

“I love you,” he mumbled.

“I love you too,” she said. “You sound tired, I’ll go tuck Jacen in, you get ready for bed. I’ll be there soon, dear.”

She went towards the stairs, and Kanan basked in the moment for a few seconds, smiling before following her up to their room.


	20. Artists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Syndulla-Jarrus house gets a visit from the artists in their family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since I updated! Life (as in work, family things, and school) has gotten in the way. I hope you like this chapter!

Hera hugged Sabine as she came through the door, and then moved so Kanan could do the same. Hera smiled brightly at Ketsu as she let her in the door, and closed it behind her.

“I’m so glad you both could make it,” Hera said. Sabine pulled away from Kanan just to quickly scoop Jacen up and hold him.

“I’m glad too,” Sabine said, pausing to chuckle quickly as Jacen pressed a loud, affectionate, and likely wet kiss to her cheek. She turned to face him.

“Have any art for us to look at, kid?”

Jacen looked a little guilty. “Um… no.”

Sabine smiled at him. “That’s alright. We all get art block.”

Jacen wriggled away from her a bit, and Sabine set him down so he could go hug Ketsu. Ketsu bent down a bit to return the affection, and Hera started trying to guide everyone in more towards the living room.

“What have you two been up to?” Kanan asked as he sat down.

“Sabine has found a new calling,” Ketsu said. She nudged Sabine, who was now sitting next to her, and smirked at her.

Hera smiled as she pulled Jacen onto her lap.

“What’s your new calling?”

Sabine rubbed her hand over the back of her neck. “We’ve been… travelling. When we found Ezra and Thrawn, they had a lot of the art that he’d taken. At first, I was just trying to return it all to the right homeworlds, but… I’ve been realizing how much art the Empire tried to destroy. So Ketsu and I have been helping people restore art.”

“That sounds really amazing, Sabine,” Kanan said.

“It is. There’s so many artists across the galaxy to work with. I just… I wish there was a way to go back and save all of it.”

Hera reached out to offer her a reassuring hand while she continued.

“There’s so much that will be gone forever. I know the Empire destroyed so much more than art, but…”

Her voice faded a bit and Kanan spoke up.

“Art stores history and culture. Someone’s art is a reflection of who they are and what they’ve done. What you’re doing is important, Sabine, and we’re proud of you.”

Sabine beamed at him, and though he couldn’t see it, he seemed to know, because he was smiling back at her.

“Senator Organa called us a little while ago,” Ketsu said. “Right now, we’ve been working with her and some other Alderaanians to try and remake some of the art that was lost on Alderaan, based on the holographs they have. We’re lucky they documented everything so well.”

Hera nodded. “That’s good. I always heard Alderaan was beautiful, and had so much to offer in terms of art.”

It got quiet for a few moments. It still hurt Hera’s heart to think about Alderaan. She didn’t know many Alderaanians very well (the Organas being the closest, though she knew of a few pilots and soldiers that were from Alderaan), but the fact that the Empire had been able to so quickly destroy an entire culture and people, leaving little behind still terrified her even after they fell. And thinking about all the lives lost...

“What’s for lunch?” Jacen asked.

Everyone laughed, and Hera wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him.

“I’ll see what we have. Anyone else hungry?”

“I am,” Ketsu said. “We were going to stop for lunch on the way, but we were running a little late.”

Sabine nodded in agreement. “Which wasn’t my fault.”

Ketsu elbowed her.

Hera lifted Jacen and plopped him down on the couch next to her, but he quickly crawled over to Ketsu, who looked a little uneasy but let him sit on her lap. Hera went to the kitchen, followed by Kanan. Hera opened the fridge and starting telling Kanan everything they had so he could think of something to make, then closing it and moving over to one of their cupboards. Before she could start listing the ingredients there, she felt an arm around her waist, and turned around to be pulled into a kiss. Hera returned the kiss, before pulling away and smiling at him.

“Were you even listening?”

“Of course.”

He kissed her again, and Hera kissed back, though only for a few moments before they heard Sabine’s voice.

“Hera, there’s a Jedi on your face.”

They quickly broke apart, Hera’s cheeks burning a little from embarrassment.

“Sorry, Sabine.”

Sabine had a smug grin on her face, looking between the two of them.

“Jacen wanted to draw something, he wanted me to ask where his art stuff is.”

Hera nodded. “I’ll get it.”

“And,” Sabine added, turning towards Kanan now. “I want to help you make lunch.”

Kanan raised an eyebrow. “You do? You hate cooking.”

“Just have me do the easy parts.”

Kanan chuckled. “Alright. Hera, do we have everything for Rycrit stew?”

Hera’s stomach rumbled at the thought. She wasn’t sure how he did it, but Kanan made better Twi’lek food than most Twi’leks she knew.

“We should. Sabine can get the recipe and check. And make extra so we can have leftovers, love.”

“Of course.”

Hera rubbed his arm before going back to the living room, where Ketsu was listening to Jacen tell her a story about the last time he went to the park. Hera smiled and listened for a few moments before Jacen saw her.

“Mommy, where are my color sticks?”

“I’ll get them,” Hera said. “Do you want some flimsi too?”

“Yes!”

“Yes what?”

“Yes please.”

Hera smiled and took the small box of color sticks and a few pieces of flimsi from one of the cabinets, and went over to Jacen, who eagerly stretched out his arms to receive them, but Hera shook her head.

“On the kitchen table. Come on.”

Jacen nodded and ran to the kitchen, and Hera smiled at Ketsu, both of them laughing as Jacen climbed up onto one of the seats. They could hear something boiling and something else being chopped up. Hera set the flimsi and box of color sticks down in front of Jacen, who quickly started grabbing for colors and set to drawing something on the flimsi in front of him. Hera smiled and watched him for a few moments, before sitting down next to Ketsu and watching Kanan and Sabine cook together.

“Either of you need help?”

“No, we got it,” Sabine said, passing a bowl of chopped vegetables to Kanan, who poured them into the pot he was stirring.

“Thank you,” he said. “Could you stir this for me?”

Sabine went over to the pot to stir it, while Kanan moved to one of the other burners on the stove so he could cook the rycrit meat over it. Hera’s eyes kept moving between Jacen drawing, trying to make sure he wasn’t making a mess of the table, and Kanan’s cooking, making sure he didn’t cut or burn himself.

He’d never really hurt himself cooking (at least, not in a way that was cause for concern) both before and after he was blinded, but that didn’t cease Hera’s worries. She certainly felt better with Sabine helping him.

* * *

Hera had Jacen set aside his drawing while they ate, not wanting it to get stew spilled on it. She gathered the bowls and small plates after everyone finished eating and put them in the sink, and Jacen ran to go get his drawing and continue it. Kanan was asking Sabine and Ketsu about some of the art they’ve restored, and Ketsu was excitedly talking about the trip they’d taken to Rodia to help fix some old broken glass windows. Hera sat back down across from the girls and next to Kanan as she was finishing the story.

“What about the Alderaanian art?” Hera asked. “How is that going?”

Sabine and Ketsu exchanged a look.

“It’s more difficult than the others,” Sabine explained. “With most of the other art, we’re just repairing things that have been damaged. With Alderaan, we have to recreate things from scratch, based on the holographs that Senator Organa has for us. But I think it will be worth it once we get it done. We won’t be able to remake everything the Alderaanians created, of course, but we can have the most important ones.”

“Senator Organa seems to be very grateful,” Ketsu said. “We just finished one of the murals that they had in the royal palace, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone that happy.”

Hera smiled at her, thinking about the art lost on her own homeworld- even in her own home. “I’m sure she’s very happy with you two.”

Sabine played with Ketsu’s hand absentmindedly, and almost nervously.

“We’ve got a lot on our plates,” Sabine said. “We only have one more Alderaanian piece for Leia, then another artist is helping her. Luke Skywalker has asked us to help him a few pieces of Jedi art. Thankfully, a lot of that wasn’t _ totally _ destroyed on Coruscant.”

That caught Kanan’s attention near immediately.

“It wasn’t?”

“No. The Emperor put a lot of it in vaults. We don’t know what he was doing with it, but Luke said he thinks he was trying to… get power from it? I’m not sure what he meant.”

Kanan nodded thoughtfully, and Hera put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

“After the Jedi pieces, we’re going to Ryloth.”

“Really?” Hera asked.

Sabine nodded. “Your father contacted us a few days ago, actually. He said he has some holographs of art from your old home he wanted us to work on.”

Hera smiled. The only art she had from her old home was the kalikori, which she’d given to her father after adding Kanan’s piece to it- tradition was still for the oldest family member to hold onto it. She didn’t know her father had holographs of any of the art there, though she did wonder what pieces he had. “Is that why you wanted to come visit?”

Sabine nodded. “When we start working on some of it, I’ll be able to get your help with it, right? To make sure I’m doing it correctly.”

“Of course, Sabine. But I doubt you’ll need it.”

A pattering of feet drew all of their attention away from the conversation.

“Done!” Jacen said proudly. Hera smiled at him- he hadn’t drawn quite as much lately, but Sabine’s visits always made him want to. He came over to the table, and Hera went to lift him onto her lap but he opted to sit on Kanan’s instead. Kanan sent a look to Hera that had just a bit of smugness as he kissed the side of Jacen’s head. Hera leaned over to look at the drawing, and couldn’t help her smile widening.

It was a simple, childish drawing of course, but the subjects were clear. A tiny figure with a short scribble of green hair was standing in the grass under the sun, next to another, taller figure, with longer brown hair, both of the figures with arms stretched a little towards each other and connected at the ends.

“Jacen,” Hera said. “That’s so sweet!”

Jacen turned it around to show Ketsu and Sabine, who both smiled wide looking at it.

“You’re such a good artist,” Ketsu said. “When you’re older, we’ll have to work with you on big pieces.”

Sabine nodded. “You could travel the galaxy and help us with our art.”

Jacen beamed and whipped his head towards Hera. “Can I?”

Hera chuckled. “When you’re older, sweetheart. Alright?”

She looked at Kanan, who had gotten quiet, and let out a small sigh.

“We should really get going,” Ketsu said. “We have to be in Hosnian Prime tomorrow morning to meet with Senator Organa.”

Sabine sighed. “Yeah, she’s right. I’m sorry we couldn’t stay longer.”

“I’m just glad you could stop by at all,” Hera said, standing up. Jacen slid off of Kanan’s lap, and they all stood up. Hera gave the girls their jackets and hugged them both goodbye, and Kanan and Jacen both did the same as they headed out the door. When it closed, Jacen ran upstairs, shouting something about wanting to play with some of his plushies, and Kanan went back to the table, sitting down with Jacen’s drawing in front of him, staring down at it even though he couldn’t see. Hera slowly came up behind him, wrapping her arms around from standing behind his chair, and reaching over to put one of her hands on top of his. She guided one of his fingers over the flimsi, tracing the figures that Jacen had drawn.

“This little one here,” she said, her voice a little quiet. “That’s Jacen. Here’s his head, his hair, and his body, his legs, and arms. And this arm here connects to another arm. That’s yours.”

She traced over Kanan’s body on the flimsi, quietly describing the drawing to him. When she finished, she kissed him gently on the cheek.

“He loves you so much,” she said.

Kanan nodded. “I love him too.”

He pushed the flimsi away as a teardrop fell onto the table, and Hera hugged him more tightly and kissed his cheek again.


	21. Drawing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacen has another drawing to show to Kanan.

“Daddy?”

“Hmm?”

“I can’t reach my color sticks.”

Kanan smiled. Jacen was still on a drawing kick ever since Sabine and Ketsu visited. While it made a part of Kanan a little sad- Jacen’s drawings were a reminder of the fact that he’d never be able to see his son or the things he creates- more than that, it made Kanan happy to hear Jacen’s giggles as Hera raved about what a great artist he was, and feeling how happy Jacen was when he was drawing.

“Where are they?”

“Mommy put them on the high shelf, because Chopper was trying to draw with me and scribbled on the table.”

Kanan chuckled and nodded, walking over to one of the higher shelves in the living room and feeling around gently for the color sticks, careful not to knock anything off. He found the color sticks and took them, handing them to Jacen, who cheerfully thanked him and ran off. Kanan let himself fall back on the couch, sighing quietly.

He hadn’t realized he’d dozed off until he felt a small, but not insignificant weight drop on his stomach. He let out a groan, but it was drowned out by Jacen.

“Daddy wake up, Daddy wake up, Daddy wake up!”

“I’m awake, I’m awake,” Kanan said. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand and then pushed himself up so he was sitting, with Jacen sliding onto his lap. Kanan wrapped his arms around Jacen, and leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead.

“What do you need, kiddo? You hungry?”

“Yes,” Jacen said. “But also- I finished my drawing!”

Kanan smiled, doing all he could to not show any guilt. “Oh yeah?”

“Mmhmm. Let me show you!”

“Jacen-”

But Jacen didn’t hear him, just pattered off to go get his drawing. He came back and handed the piece of flimsi to Kanan, who ran his thumb over it.

“Sweetheart,” Kanan said slowly. “Remember, your daddy can’t see, right? I really wish I could see your drawing, but I can’t.”

“Oh,” Jacen said. He sounded a little deflated, and it hurt Kanan’s heart.

“I’m sure it’s an  _ amazing _ drawing, though. Mommy is always telling me how good of an artist you are.”

Jacen gasped. “I can tell you my drawing!”

Jacen took one of Kanan’s hands, and put it on top of the drawing.

“That’s Chopper,” Jacen said. He lifted Kanan’s hand and put it onto another part of the drawing. “That’s me! Then there’s Mommy… and there’s you!”

Kanan smiled. “It’s a little family portrait.”

“Do you think Mommy will like it?”

“I bet she’ll love it. You’re… you’re such a good artist, Jacen. It’s not easy to draw the whole family like that.”

Kanan felt Jacen quickly kiss his cheek, and Kanan reluctantly pulled his hand away from the drawing to hug him tight.

“I love you, Jacen.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

Kanan bounced Jacen a little bit on his lap, asking the Force how he ever got so lucky.


	22. Jedi Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke Skywalker comes to visit and ask Kanan some questions about the Jedi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for going so long without an update! I've been rather busy with various things, and haven't had much inspiration to write as of late, but that's getting better. I'll also have a Valentine's Day fic (not in this series) up on Friday! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“Skywalker,” Hera said, smiling and nodding cordially as she invited Luke inside. He mirrored her as he stepped through the door.

“Syndulla.”

“Kanan is in the living room. What- what are you going to talk about?”

Hera couldn’t help but admit to herself that Luke’s visit to their home had been making her nervous ever since he called to ask. She’d already been put a little on edge around him shortly before Kanan came back, when she’d heard he had plans to build a Jedi school. While she was glad that the Jedi would return to protect the galaxy again, she also feared sending Jacen to get training. If he had really wanted to, she would let him, of course, but she certainly wouldn’t try to push him towards that path.

Now, she was concerned that Luke would convince Kanan to go to the new Jedi Temple and help him train the children, maybe permanently. She knew it was selfish- if Kanan wanted to teach Jedi children, then he had every right to leave and do so, but she wanted him for herself and her family.

“I just want to ask him some things about the old Jedi, that’s all,” Luke said.

Hera nodded, and Luke passed her with a “thank you,” into the living room, and Hera just folded her arms and sighed before following him. Kanan was sitting on the couch, bouncing Jacen on his lap. He hadn’t said so, but Hera had been able to tell that Luke’s impending visit had been setting him on edge too. That gave her hope that he wouldn’t leave.

In fact, she knew he wouldn’t leave. She knew and loved Kanan for a reason. But that still didn’t set her mind to rest.

“I’m Luke Skywalker,” Luke said, sitting across from Kanan. He extended a hand out to him, but Kanan, not seeing it, did nothing. Jacen however, beamed at Luke and shook his hand himself. Luke chuckled.

“Hello, Jacen. I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“When?”

Luke looked a little taken aback. “Um, it was a few years ago. You were probably too little to remember.”

Jacen nodded, and Kanan cleared his throat. “Kanan Jarrus. I’ve heard a lot about you, Luke.”

“Likewise. I’m sure you’ve heard about the new temple I’m building.”

Kanan nodded. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in being a teacher. I know you may be able to use the help, but I have a family.”

“I’m not asking you to leave your family,” Luke said. “I understand. My nephew takes up most of my sister and her husband’s time, I couldn’t ask them to do anything like that. I just have some questions. You and Ahsoka Tano are the only ones left that I know of who were part of the old Jedi Order. I just have some questions about it. I don’t want to run my new Order exactly like the old one, but if I have some more information, it would help.”

Kanan straightened up a little, and Hera couldn’t help but smile. She felt her worry dissipate, and her heart warmed seeing Kanan gain some confidence in the conversation. While talking about his childhood as a Jedi was often painful for him, she knew that he always wanted to help people, and that he’d be so happy to talk about the Jedi with someone actually listening and understanding, and who wanted to bring them back into the galaxy.

She loved him  _ so much _ .

“Jacen,” Hera said. “Do you want to go to the park with Chopper and I?”

Chopper warbled in surprise at the change of plans, but Hera shushed him. Jacen didn’t have to hear all the details of what happened to the Jedi, something she didn’t doubt Kanan and Luke would get into.

Jacen paused, but Kanan nudged him.

“You should go, sweetheart,” he said. Jacen nodded and hopped off of his lap.

“Okay!” Jacen said, running to get his shoes on. Hera went to rub Kanan’s shoulder gently and smiled at Luke.

“Take as long as you need, alright? I’ll keep him busy.”

Kanan put his hand up on his shoulder over her hand for a moment, before Hera pulled away and headed out the door with Jacen and Chopper.

* * *

“Depa Billaba was your master?” Luke asked. Kanan nodded in response, and Luke continued. “I read about her in some of the records I found. She was amazing. But I thought her padawan was named Caleb Dume.”

“I  _ was _ Caleb Dume,” Kanan said. “I changed my name to hide from the Empire.”

“Oh. And you haven’t changed it back?”

“No, I… Kanan Jarrus is my name too. It’s been my name longer than Caleb Dume was. And I met my family as Kanan Jarrus. Caleb Dume was a great kid, but… this is who I am now.”

There was a long pause while Kanan let Luke process his words. Luke finally responded.

“That’s a good way of looking at it. You’re a good Jedi, Kanan. I’m glad I got to meet you. I heard a lot about you before you were found. I didn’t get to talk to her much, but a lot of people told me to talk to Hera when I could because she knew you and Ezra. She would tell me how amazing you are.”

“She did?”

“Yeah. She missed you a lot. I’m sure she was so happy when you came home.”

Kanan’s heart skipped a beat and he smiled. “I think she was.”


	23. Fuel Depot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kanan, Hera and Jacen visit Lothal and spend the night with Ezra and Jai.

“Jacen, dear, come on,” Hera said, gently pulling Jacen with her. “It would be rude to be late meeting up with Ezra.”

Jacen grumbled, but let her pull him along.

They were meeting Ezra and Jai at Old Jho’s (it was now run by Jho’s nephew, who’d restored it the best he could) before going to their home and spending the night. Hera held Jacen’s hand one one side, and Kanan’s on the other. When they got to the entryway of Jho’s (the nose of an old Republic gunship hung proudly above the door again, though it was a different one), she squeezed Kanan’s hand before letting go, and scooping Jacen up into her arms, holding him against her as they walked in.

She saw Ezra and Jai wave at them from one of the booths, and she nudged Kanan to guide them towards him. Hera sat Jacen down across from the two, and he slid in the seat, Hera and Kanan sliding in after him.

“It’s nice to see you guys,” Hera said. “How are things going?”

Ezra beamed. “Good! I told you about the house, right?”

Hera nodded. “You did. It sounds nice,” she said, and then looked at Jai, who she noticed was sitting with Ezra’s arm around her shoulder. “Did your mom move with you?”

Jai shook his head. “No. Her partner moved in with her after we moved out. She’s happy.”

Hera smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Can we get food?” Jacen blurted out. The adults at the table laughed, and Kanan nodded.

“I’ll get us all something.”

“Nysillin tea, please, love,” Hera said. “And could I split whatever you get? I’m not that hungry.”

“Of course,” Kanan answered. “Jacen, I’ll see if they have nerf nuggets.”

Jacen beamed, and Hera elbowed him gently.

“What do we say?”

“Thank you, Daddy!” Jacen said.

Kanan smiled. “You’re welcome. Ezra, Jai?”

“We already ate,” Ezra said. “But thank you.”

Kanan smiled at him, before going over to the bar. Hera gently ruffled Jacen’s hair, and looked across to Jai and Ezra.

“Thank you for having us,” she said. “I miss Lothal sometimes.”

“Anytime,” Ezra said. “You’re always welcome.”

Kanan came back in a few moments with the food, and Hera was happy to drink her tea and take a fork and occasionally pick a piece of the minced Loth-rat pie from Kanan’s plate while they continued to chat with Jai and Ezra. Jacen, on the other hand, was entirely uninterested in the conversation once he got his food, and only took to devouring the nerf nuggets in front of him.

“How have you been… adjusting?” Kanan asked while Hera was cutting herself a piece of his dinner. His forehead was wrinkled slightly in worry, and Hera understood why. She’d talked to him about the struggle she had adjusting to peace, and she could tell Kanan would get restless every great while. Very few of the rebels and soldiers she knew actually had an easy time acclimating to the new galaxy.

Ezra nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Sometimes it helps to meditate, or run some of the exercises you taught me with my lightsaber out in the fields when I get… jumpy.”

Hera felt a bit of guilt for never having recovered Kanan’s lightsaber after he lost it during her rescue, but Kanan didn’t bring that up. 

“I’m glad my teachings are still helping you.”

“They always will, Master,” Ezra said with a smile.

* * *

By the time they’d gotten back to Jai and Ezra’s home, Hera wasn’t feeling well.

It wasn’t the pie, or the tea, or even the long journey. On their way back, they’d passed by the old fuel depot, and Hera hadn’t felt right since. She didn’t tell Kanan about it, since he was in such a good mood, but she could tell that he sensed something off with her.

Jacen played downstairs with Ezra while Hera and Kanan took their bags to the room they were staying in, and that’s when he finally said something.

“Are you alright?” Kanan asked.

Hera bit her lip briefly. “Of course, love. I’m just tired.”

“You know you can talk to me.”

“I know.”

“Hera,” he said, sounding exasperated. “I can tell that something’s bothering you.”

She came over to him after she sat one of her bags down, and took both of his hands in hers. “I’m alright. Just not feeling too well.”

Kanan sighed. She could tell he wasn’t convinced.

“Fine. I thought we could go take Jacen for a walk through the market before all the stalls close.”

“That sounds fun, but I’m not feeling well. I’ll lay down, you take him.”

Kanan didn’t move for a few seconds, but finally hesitantly nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He kissed her gently, squeezing her hands and then resting his forehead against hers after pulling away from the kiss.

“Will you talk to me when we get back?”

Hera said nothing, but finally gave a small nod. “Okay.”

He kissed her again, and went downstairs. Hera just laid down on the bed, and closed her eyes.

* * *

Kanan was smiling as he came through the door, holding a sleepy Jacen in his arms. He gently set him down, tucking a blanket over him and pressing a kiss to his forehead. The new toy he’d just bought Jacen at the market- a small stuffed loth-cat, rolled onto the floor, and Kanan picked it up before gently tucking it into Jacen’s arms. He slowly crept to the room he and Hera were staying in, pushing the door open gently. He could feel that Hera was sleeping, but he could also feel… unrest.

He had an idea on why she was upset earlier. He didn’t doubt that being near the old fuel depot was painful for her, but he also knew Hera, and he knew she wouldn’t talk to him unless she wanted to.

Apparently, this was affecting her sleep too.

Kanan changed quickly, and sat next to her on the bed, keeping himself close to her.

Despite his worry, he told himself he wouldn’t wake her up, but he heard a quiet whimper, and couldn’t help himself. He put a hand on her shoulder, and though he planned to gently shake her awake, Hera shot upright, breathing shakily.

“Hey,” Kanan said gently. “I’m here, I’m here.”

There was another moment where he just heard her breathing, and then all of a sudden her arms were wrapped around him tightly, and she was nuzzling her face into his neck, crying softly.

“I love you,” she said. “I love you so much.”

Kanan hugged her back as tight as she hugged him, and kissed her head.

“I love you too. I’m here, Hera, I’m here.”

She nodded against him, still not letting go, but her cries stopped, and she just held onto him.

“Can we talk now?” Kanan asked.

“The fuel depot,” Hera said. “We went by it, and I… I just couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. And then I went to sleep, and I saw it.”

She pulled her arms out of the hug and leaned back, though she still kept her arms rested on her sides.

“That was the worst night of my life,” Hera said. “And losing you was the hardest thing I ever went through.”

Kanan nodded. “I know. But I’m here now. And I’m never leaving you again, okay? Ever. You’re stuck with me.”

Hera chuckled, though Kanan could tell she was still crying just a little bit from the sound of it.

“That’s alright with me.”

Kanan smiled and kissed her cheek.

“I got something for you at the market,” he said. “At one of the jewelry stands.”

“Oh?” Hera said. She perked up a lot more than he thought she would.

“Yeah,” Kanan said, but he fumbled and dropped the box. He cursed quietly and got down off the bed onto his knees to find it, looking for the box, and he could feel some excitement building up in Hera, which confused Kanan a little, but he supposed he didn’t exactly buy her presents very often.

He picked up the box, and kneeling, handed it to Hera.

“I hope it looks good,” he said. “The guy said it did, but he might have just been trying to get my money. And I’m not sure how much I’d value Jacen’s taste in necklaces.”

“Necklace?” Hera asked, taking the box. She sounded… deflated?

“Yeah,” Kanan said. “You were upset earlier, so I wanted to get you a present.”

“Oh,” Hera said. He heard the box open, and Hera gasped quietly.

“Kanan, it’s beautiful. Thank you, love.”

“You sure?” Kanan asked. “You sounded a little disappointed.”

“No, I just- I just thought you were going to… nevermind. But I love this. Thank you.”

Kanan frowned, not sure of what she meant, but was glad she liked his gift. She kissed him, and Kanan felt the necklace around her neck, and smiled into the kiss.

It was only after they both laid down for the night, and she was asleep, that Kanan realized what she thought he was going to do.


	24. Temple of the Force

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the anniversary of his death on Lothal, Kanan and Hera go to Yavin IV's Temple of the Force.

“Damn it, Chop,” Kanan muttered, growing more and more frustrated. “You fry a chip or something?”

It wasn’t even noon yet, and it felt like Chopper had already run into the back of his legs twelve times. For some reason, the droid had been following him around ever since he got up. It was surprising, too- usually, Chopper would let himself charge rather late, but Kanan had woken up early and Chopper was there, waiting outside the door for him.

Chopper just warbled dismissively at his comment, and waved a small mechanical arm. Kanan rolled his eyes.

He was having an undeniably weird day. Something had felt off, even when he just woke up, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why Chopper was following him around so worriedly.

“Give him some space, Chopper,” Hera said. “He’s okay.”

Chopper grumbled something back to her.

“I know, I know. But you can let him walk.”

Chopper rolled off, and Hera came closer, resting a hand on his chest.

“What’s gotten into him?” Kanan asked.

“He’s just worried about you. You know what today is.”

“Uh-”

“How are you feeling?”

Kanan frowned. “I’m fine. What’s today?”

“You- you don’t know?”

“No.”

Hera sighed, and kissed him before pulling away.

“It’s… the day at the fuel depot. Or, the anniversary of it.”

Kanan didn’t have as much attachment to his death like Hera did. He remembered it, and remembered how the heat hurt when it burned him, but he also remembered the peace that came with dying. He remembered being able to talk to his master for a little while, and seeing some of the other Jedi and his friends from the Temple, and just seeing in general. He also remembered being brought back by Ezra, and being in the Unknown Regions with him and Thrawn.

He had worried about Hera, and hated being separated from her for so long, but it was different for him than it was for her. He knew she was okay, and she had no reason to believe she was alive.

He’d made a choice to give his life for them, where Hera only had to watch helplessly.

He hugged Hera.

“I’m here now,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

She nodded against him, and Kanan kissed the top of her head.

“What do you want to do today?” Hera asked.

“What would you usually do?”

There was a long pause while Hera thought.

“Well,” she finally started. “After moving here, sometimes I would go to the Temple of the Force to feel closer to you.”

Kanan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “There’s a Jedi temple here?”

“No,” Hera said. “Just a temple to the Force. It’s… peaceful there.”

“Well, we should go there.”

“That sounds nice,” she said.

Kanan held her a little longer, and then chuckled.

“You’ve gotten soft since the war ended, General.”

Hera scoffed and stepped away from the hug. “Soft?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Maybe I’m just worried you’re too delicate to handle me anymore. Think of that?”

Kanan laughed more openly. “There’s the Hera I know.”

Hera smacked his chest playfully. “Let’s just go to the Temple.”

* * *

The Temple of the Force was very peaceful, just like Hera had said. Kanan could feel the energy pulsating from it, but it was different from the Jedi temples he’d been to. This wasn’t a place that naturally held power that led the Jedi to build there, this place was given power by people who believed it should have it. The people praying here were what made the Temple so powerful in the Force, not the other way around.

“What are you supposed to do here?” Kanan whispered, trying not to disturb the quiet.

“You go to the wall,” Hera whispered back. “Kneel, and pray to those you’ve lost.”

Kanan nodded, and Hera guided him to one of the walls, and he kneeled down, feeling Hera next to him. Kanan couldn’t help but feel more at peace with her by his side, no matter where he was.

He carefully reached between them to take her hand, and she took his back, squeezing to acknowledge him.

Kanan prayed to his master, and he was sure that he felt her with them, giving her blessing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the end of this fic, but there's still two more in this series to do!


End file.
